Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever
by J. S. Whitson
Summary: Poor Heather just wants to finish her game with a Normal ending, but nothing is going right. Missing monsters, incorrect scripts, and technical issues continue to plague her. On top of that, her player keeps leaving her unpaused. Will the torment ever end?
1. Chapter 1: The Mall

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 1: The Mall**

I sat up groggily from the table and wiped the drool off of my face.

"What a nightmare."

___Thank God, an Extra New Game. ____If I have to get splattered by that roller coaster one more time..._

My head turned to look over at the window blinds, then I rose up out of my seat. I automatically reached down and tucked away the Aglaophotis locket, as I'd done the last eight million times. I then left the Happy Burger without paying. No one gave a crap, same as it ever was. I ignored the looping audio of bustling people and cars outside as I went for the sliding glass doors. I loaded out, then took a sharp left and walked confidently over to the payphone so Douglas could sneak up on me.

"Dad... It's me."

___What the hell? _

I thought I heard some kind of weird trip-hop music thumping through the phone speaker. I lowered the receiver and stared down at it.

"...Dad?"

"Yeah. Oh, uhh... hold on. ... can you turn it down? ...'s my daughter."

The noise went down only slightly.

"Dad, this isn't in the script," I said, keeping my voice hushed as Douglas approached.

"I know, it's just … aliens. ... you going for the Reven... ending this time?"

He didn't sound very alien-ish to me, and I could barely make out what he was saying.

"No, I don't think so," I whispered. "Even if I was, you're supposed to be having tea at the table. Is James there?"

"Haven't seen ... but he usually ... up when you're ... ...top Center. Now, abou... that ending..."

"I'm feeling like they might go Possessed this run."

"Noooo," came an exasperated reply, then he _finally _began to speak clearly. "Just try to go Normal. We're already acting so strange, the player probably thinks their game is broken. Just stick to the Normal and we'll see what happens."

_He sounds so weird without his alien voice._

I guess I was starting to feel paranoid.

"Okay, fine... promise you'll be dead when I get home?"

"No problem," he answered cheerfully. "Let me clear these aliens out and we'll be in business. See you then!"

I frowned. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Am I? Oh, right... Blah blah, don't talk to strangers, see you in a few."

The line fell quiet with an abrupt ___click__._

"Okay, I will. I love you too, Dad," I told the dead phone, if only to keep the flow going. I quickly hung it back up, then turned to face Douglas with a shrug.

"That was weird," he said. "What took so long?"

"I dunno," I replied. "Is this some kind of Director's Cut?"

"Whoops, hang on a sec." He flipped his tie to the side and started to unbutton his shirt in front of me.

"Eww! What the hell are you doing?"

"The player put the code in, but I forgot to strip," he answered.

I left him there and moved over in the direction of the restrooms, but I'd missed all of my cues and had been seriously thrown off. To make matters worse, the soundtrack was skipping like a broken record. ___This is all going to hell, _I thought. I spun around and called out to him, "Are you still following me? Do I have to scream?"

"I haven't said any of my lines yet!" he yelled back, still fumbling with his belt. "Heather! I need to speak with you! It's about your birth!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not interested." I went ahead and pushed open the door to the ladies' room.

Once inside, I turned to face the mirror and stood there.

For two. Damn. Hours.

The player hadn't hit the pause button___._

I sat through my frustrated idle animation about a hundred times, all the while praying for a power outage... or for their console to catch on fire.

_Please move me._

_Please move me._

_PLEASE move me..._

After what seemed like an eternity, the bathroom door eased open with a creak. Claudia peeked her head in. _"What gives,"_ she mouthed silently, pointing to her watch—which I'd never noticed before.

I shrugged and gave up on the player. I could move myself now. "All I know is there's something really screwy going on with this game... and I don't like it," I said, shifting back and forth on my tired feet.

She stepped in and rested her back against the closed door. "I was starting to get worried. If they're going to walk away like that they're supposed to press pause. Maybe they're reading the wiki?"

"They're probably setting up Fraps to record the game or something. Everything was so off earlier, I bet they're having a freak out."

She looked thoughtful. "What do you suppose is happening?"

I folded my arms and sighed. "No idea... I'd ask my dad if anything like this ever happened in his old game, but you're going to kill him. I don't think they're going for the Revenge ending. Hell, I don't even think the Heather Beam's been unlocked yet. My head isn't glowing all weird-like." I frowned into the mirror one last time, just to be sure.

"Maybe I should hold off for a few minutes so you can talk to him," she replied. I stared dumbfounded as she fished through her pockets and lit up a cigarette.

I blinked a few times. "Uh, nah... don't. He said we should just stick to the plan and see what happens." I had a sudden urge to get going, and ran around the room in circles a few times.

"Player's back."

"Oh good," she said, as she flicked away her cancer stick and crushed it beneath her foot. "See you in a little while." She pulled open the door and made a swift exit.

_Finally._

I squeezed through the bathroom window and dropped down into the usual back alley. The white van was blocking the way to the street as it always did. The player cycled through my costumes a few times before settling on Princess Heart. I completed the pink sparkly animation and sprinted over to the door up ahead. Once in the building, the player started switching my outfits out again. I sighed and looked down at the rapid costume changes. After a few minutes, they set me back to the default clothing choice. I sat alone in the hall for a while unpaused, but they soon returned and we continued.

I turned left at first, but they must have remembered the game from last time. I made the correct right turn and passed through the door at the end of the hallway. Things seemed to be returning back to normal. The Mall floor was dirty and I heard the usual freaky sound effects coming from somewhere overhead. I ran down to the half-open shutter and ducked down to get into the clothing store.

I loaded in and waited.

I waited some more.

Nothing was happening.

"What now," I groaned and looked around. The Closer was missing. I crouched down and scooped the handgun up off of the floor, then turned to Angela's dead character model lying a few feet away. "How can you be dead if there's no monster?" I demanded. She opened one eye and turned her head towards me. "Oh... I forgot. They didn't give you a voice actress, did they?"

The character model shook her head slowly, then turned it back into position.

_Strange._

"Sorry to bother you," I said, as I scooted behind the counter to get to the next door.

_Gah, you forgot the ammo over there!_ My head turned to gaze over at it longingly. I reached the door and loaded into the new hallway. I ran forward and made a left around the corner to pick up the Central Square Shopping Center map from the wall. The player stayed frozen on the map view screen for at least five more minutes.

I raised my arm and stared at my pixely watch, growing impatient again.

Finally, I ran back and opened up the previously locked door, and exited out into the looping hallway. At least the Double Heads had bothered to show up, because they were patrolling the halls. The player made me fire several shots towards them, but their aim was terrible. I emptied my gun into the wall, then ran panicked down the hallway to the next door.

I found myself back in the "dirty floor" part of the Mall. _Well, a lot of good that did. _I ran forward and once again couched to get under the partly open shutter door. This time, the player noticed the ammo and I stuck it in my inventory, all the while thanking God I probably wouldn't have to resort to the knife._ Maybe this game will be worth saving after all._ For the second time, I went through the door and made a left to the Exit door, then made my way up the staircase.

Once upstairs, I opened the door into the next hallway. I checked every broken locked door on the way until the player found the room containing the Double Head chowing down on one of the permanent monster baits. Instead of killing it, The player quick-turned me and left immediately. At least they were saving some bullets.

Eventually, I made it into the room with the key under the crates. I stared off into space as the player saved their game, but they skipped past picking up any of the items.

_Great... so they're actually gonna keep it..._

Back out in the hall, I jogged down to the Exit door. Once outside, I sprinted past three Closers rather than the usual two.

_Waitaminute..._

I turned around on my own for a double take, and it only confirmed my suspicions. The_ middle_ Closer looked oddly familiar. "What the hell!" I shrieked at the thing. "Why weren't you in the clothing store? Angela's character model was alone in there!"

The Closer shrugged its huge beefy arms, incapable of speaking for itself.

"Never mind, I gotta go get those Tongs, since I'm too lazy to move a couple of boxes." I made a dash for Helen's Bakery and slammed the door shut, leaving the other Closers in the dust.

I must have been seeing things.

"V...Vincent?!"

There he was, sitting up on the counter next to the cash register. I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

"Hiya, Heather," he said, waving his right hand. The other was holding on to a half-eaten donut. "What took you so long?"

"Do you know where you are?" I demanded. I stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, dragging him down off of the counter. "This is the _Mall_, not the Hilltop Center! And move your ass, you're sitting on my flamethrower."

He straightened up and dusted some powdered sugar off of his vest. "I know that, _jeez._ I just felt like doing a little exploring today... is that so wrong?" He had an unnerving sneer on his face, but it was perfectly in-character, so it fit him well. "Anyway... I brought you something."

"What," I sighed, looking around for the missing flamethrower. The flyer on the counter top read _Crispy toasted Dead _but the item had mysteriously vanished.

"Did you take my unlockable weapon?"

"Noooo," his tone had gone whiny now. "Don't you wanna know what I have for you?"

"What is it," I grumbled. "And it had better not be game breaking. This whole play through is getting way outta hand."

"It's s-something r-r-really good," he replied, imitating Jasper Gein's voice from Silent Hill 4: The Room.

"Stop it," I snapped. "You and Jasper _don't_ have the same voice actor. You didn't even get the stutter right."

"Fine, whatever. Just take this." He grabbed my arm and pressed a smooth black flat-shaped object into my hand.

"What is it...?" I asked, turning it in my fingers. "...A smartphone!?"

"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Vincent, have you lost your mind!" I cried. "Put this away! TAKE IT OUT OF THE GAME!"

"But why?" He held up a second phone. "Look, I'm texting your old man as we speak. We were playing games on them earlier and he got me a few times." He grinned at me and pushed up his glasses. "He's a pretty sneaky guy you know, and not half as dumb as he looks!"

"Shut your mouth." He was making me angry, and he should have known better.

I laid the phone on the counter and backed away, wringing my hands. "These things are gonna screw up the game. We're in the wrong damn time period... they haven't even been invented yet!"

He picked it back up and slid it into my lower right vest pocket. "Just take it... what's the worst that could happen? I can even let you know of anything else weird that's going on. Just keep it on you... you don't even have to use it if you don't want to."

"Where did you even get it from? How can it have pixels and polygons? Who drew the art?"

He walked in a slow circle with his usual Vincent theatrics, moving his hands as he talked. "Something _bizarre_ is going on. I can't wait to see where we go from here. Exciting, isn't it?"

"Doesn't this get to you at all? I feel like I'm going crazy! And listen, I'm getting my lines out of order and wrong! Jesus!" I marched over and snatched up the Tongs, then turned back to him. "DON'T let me catch you skulking around the Mall ever again. I'll see you at the Hilltop Center, all right? Behave yourself." I started for the door.

He shrugged his shoulders, but he was still smiling. "Whatever you say, Heather. You're the boss."

_Was that a cutscene? _I wondered as I loaded out of Helen's Bakery. Then I ran a full circle around the entire platform until the player finally found the appropriate door. I continued back down the corridor, checking every broken doorknob on the way (again), then made it back into the key room.

The player tried to use the Tongs, found that I wasn't close enough, and scooted me up until I was mashed against the wooden pallet. I finally got down on my hands and knees and retrieved the key. I rushed back out the door, swerving past the Numb Bodies strutting around just outside. I ran through the Exit door and made a beeline for My Bestsellers to unlock it.

The black screen cleared and I froze. Unbelievably loud music was blaring from some sort of invisible speaker system.

_"BLUE SKY TO FOREVERRR! GREEEEN GRASS BLOWS IN THA WINNNND DAAANNNCIN'!"_

I clamped both hands over my ears involuntarily. It was the intro song, and it was way, WAY too loud. I felt the player leave me briefly, probably to go mute their TV.

___How are we gonna do the Shakespeare puzzle with all this damn racket? _

I crouched down and crawled along the floor, as if it would help me escape the noise somehow. I picked up the Shakespeare Anthologies along the way, and stood up in front of the bookshelf.

_"SO NOW WHAT SHOULD I DO? I'M STRUNG OUT, ADDICTED TA YOU!"_

My ears had had more than enough of the aural assault, and I found myself pulling open the menu. The background music option was still there, but the slide wasn't working properly. I had a choice between ear piercingly loud or off. I selected the latter. ___That's a shame, 'cause I really like Akira's music at a decent volume _I thought, but I _was_ glad to be able to hear myself think again.

The smartphone beeped in my pocket. I plucked it out and slid my thumb over the screen to unlock it. The contacts list had already been set up, and I scrolled through the names. Most of the characters in Silent Hill 3 were listed there, as well as several names from the other games in the series. Thankfully, nothing outside of Team Silent's realm.

It was Vincent texting me:

******What was all that noise in there? Having a party w/out me?**

I rolled my eyes and hit the side button to turn off the screen. For all I knew, the phone might have been the cause of it. Perhaps the Old Gods of Silent Hill were displeased. I shoved the thing back into my pocket, suddenly remembering how Shattered Memories had featured a smartphone.

___This is pure blasphemy._

The player returned and made me arrange the Anthologies on the shelf to their satisfaction. I assumed that they weren't the brightest crayon in the box, because the Riddle Mode had been set on Easy. I prayed it would keep the game as short as possible as I moved over to the keypad to the right of the door.

I entered the number code and waited.

Nada.

I entered it again, in case one of the numbers hadn't taken the first time.

Zip.

The player made me run back to the shelf to check the numbers again, but I was pretty sure I'd punched them in correctly.

I stood there alone for about twenty minutes. They'd gone AWOL again.

I ran by myself back over to the door and mashed the code into the keypad three times. _Dammit! _I pounded hard on the door and gave it several solid kicks. "Open the hell up! I do not need this right now!"

I was huffing and puffing as I slid down into a sit against the door. I grumbled and pulled out the phone reluctantly, then started to look through the names again.

___Claudia's just on the other side. Maybe she can unlock it for me..._

I selected Claudia Wolf and pressed the call button. It rang one and a half times before being picked up. Surprisingly fast.

"I am Claudia," came a voice on the other end.

"Yeah, I know that already. Listen, I'm on the other side of the door and the code's glitched out or something. Can you just walk forward twenty feet or so and unlock it?"

"Oh. Umm... hold, please."

I waited.

"Alessa?"

"Yeah, still here. Did you get it?"

"I don't think it works that way," she said, sounding a bit worried.

"Whaddaya mean? Just flip the lock so we can get this stupid cutscene over with."

"I don't see a lock from this side."

"Damn. How do puzzle doors work anyway?"

"I'm not really sure. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Oh, hold on I just thought of something. I'll call you back if it doesn't work, okay?" I hit the hangup button and ran back out into the open Mall area.

"Closer?"

The same one as before shambled up to me and stood there, swaying slightly. I grabbed it by its large meaty arm thing and dragged it over into My Bestsellers. I then pointed over to the keypad door. "Can you like, punch that door open for me? You look strong enough." I probably should have warned Claudia to move back a few feet, but rash decisions were part of my character design, so I just hoped for the best.

The Closer reeled back and _SMASHED_ the door open in one swift motion, nearly ripping it off of its hinges. I took a step forward to check out the damage, amazed and relieved it had actually worked.

Claudia was thankfully unhurt, and she pulled the door aside as she peeked into the room. "Wow! That did it," she said, looking pleased.

"Thanks, Closer. You are the man thing!" I went to high-five it, but it had already strolled away. I went to join Claudia in the elevator hallway.

"I can't believe we haven't even gotten to the Nightmare Mall yet," I said, shaking my head.

Claudia jogged back halfway up the corridor and cleared her throat. "They've come to witness the begin—"

"Wait, wait," I interrupted. "My player's not back yet."

We stood there for another awkward few minutes, and I looked over to see she had pulled out her phone again and was messing around with it.

"Did you get that from Vincent?" I asked.

"Yeah. You know, I can't believe how useful these things are. Maybe Silent Hill games need more technology."

I gawked at her. "What are you saying?"

"Well, it's like... everything we have is so retro. It's kind of sad."

I buried my face in my hand. "I can't believe _you_ of all people would say that. Silent Hill games have a very specific style. Dingy and old... Do you know how hard it is to make textures and items look like that? It's purely artistic." I sighed. "And you're a cult member. Your church is full of candles and stuff... and no TVs."

"That's true, but... there's a stereo in there somewhere."

"I thought that was Vincent's. He's different." I paced back and forth down a short length of the hall impatiently. "Ugh..."

"Is your player ever coming back?" she asked, without looking away from the screen.

"I dunno, maybe we should just continue without them. This game needs to end already so things can get back to normal."

She tucked the phone into her pocket and straightened up. "They've come to witness the Beginning. The rebirth of Paradise, unspoiled by mankind."

I stepped forward a few feet. "What are you—hey... wait a minute. Did you just say 'unspoiled'?"

"Yeah?"

"It's 'despoiled', not 'unspoiled'. Where are you getting 'unspoiled' from?"

"The script."

"No! Let me Google it to show you. And no, I'm not admitting that having tech in the game is better. We'd be fine if everything hadn't gone screwed up like this."

I pulled out the phone once again to run a search, but all I found was some lousy forum full of people with annoying usernames and ridiculous icons arguing over trivial crap.

Finally, I found something worth looking at. "'Unspoiled' is HD Collection only," I told her.

"Oh. I thought this _was_ the HD Collection..."

"No way, because you sound like Donna Burke and I don't sound like a 40-year-old woman trying to play a role way younger than she is," I replied. "So it's 'despoiled' not 'unspoiled', alright?"

"I suppose so." She was starting to look bored, not that I could really blame her.

"Uh-huh. Now we've already wasted enough time on this and you should probably go kill my dad before he gets fed up and wanders back to his old game or something."

She let out a small sigh and looked back over her shoulder. "All right then, I'll go pick up the Missionary."

"Okay."

"Good luck with everything," she said, as she turned and started to make her way up to the secret exit door.

"Yeah, catch you later," I called after her, still feeling a bit irritated.

___HD Collection, are you for real...? _I shuddered at the thought as I jogged up the hallway and hopped into the elevator. I then wondered why Claudia would need to read the script again, seeing how we'd gone through it millions of times.

The elevator doors slid shut behind me, and I began to feel a little silly just before the next cutscene, knowing no one would be watching it.

I must have been standing in a once in a lifetime unlucky position, because the next thing I knew, the radio came crashing down and_ thwacked_ me over the head.

I remember falling to my knees and holding the back of my head, then everything went dark.

...


	2. Chapter 2: Get Out of Hell Free

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 2: Get Out of Hell Free**

...

I was being dragged.

___What..._

The hands let go of me and I came to a stop. I squinted at the surprisingly bright lights overhead. Two darkened figures blocked my view as they leaned over.

"Heather, we got problems," one of them said. It sounded like Douglas.

I blinked. "Huh?" As my vision sharpened I could make him out, and Valtiel was sitting across from him. Douglas then handed me a sheet of paper with thick black lettering.

___No Nightmare World _it said.

I gasped. "W-what?!"

He nodded. "Valtiel said you forgot to get that splitting headache back over by the elevator. Claudia must've forgotten to say her lines... or maybe she got them wrong."

"How the hell can Valtiel ___say_ anything," I demanded. "He's nonverbal!"

"He found a marker and a stack of printer paper somewhere. It ___has _been a pain in the ass communicating with him, though."

I rubbed my eyes hard and sat up. "Oh, for frick's sake... No Nightmare World? No 'hand of God'? This just isn't a Silent Hill game without it."

Valtiel hung his head and held up a second piece of paper. ___I don't even have a reason to be here now._

I leaned forward and patted him on the back. "Don't say—write that, big guy. God's still in there somewhere. I just have to get super pissed off in some way, story-wise. Maybe when Claudia murders my father this will all clear up. I'm already pretty annoyed... and heck, at least ___some _of the monsters decided to show up. I'm sure you'll be back to cranking valves in no time."

Valtiel looked hopeful, I assumed. I couldn't read his features too well, being a freaking monster and all.

Douglas sighed. "I didn't even get to see the Split Worm."

I glanced over at him. "Douglas..."

"Yeah?"

"Put your damn clothes back on. This is _so_ awkward."

"But the player put in the code—"

"The 'player' is long gone, and I don't think they'll ever come back at this point."

He looked down at himself. "This is only a retexture. I'm still wearing clothes... they only made my shirt and pants _look_ like they're missing."

"But you were undoing your shirt earlier! I saw it!"

"I dunno, Heather. Nothing is making any damn sense around here, and it's getting me really worried."

"You're tellin' me." I sighed and gazed around. I noticed I'd been dragged almost all the way to the Mall exit, and we were all sitting in front of the Happy Burger. A sudden thought crept into my mind. "Hey... have you seen Vincent around anywhere?"

He took a deep breath. "Yeah, actually, I did. About... I wanna say... forty-five minutes ago. I was sitting over on that bench out front havin' a smoke... and I hear the doors swing open. I thought it was gonna be you, but it was him instead. And I say to him, 'Hey Vincent, what are you doing here?', but he ignores me and keeps on walking. So I give him the old, 'What's the rush, where's the fire' and all that... then he stops and tosses me this weird thing. When I look up again he's already running down into the Subway level, and I didn't think it would be a good idea to chase after him, so I went looking for you instead. It was all pretty strange and... hell, if I didn't have that thing in my hand I would've thought I was imagining it all."

"A cell phone?"

"What's a 'sell phone'?"

I almost cracked up at that. "Well, it's—"

"This?" he interrupted, and held it up. I noticed he'd been given the same model as mine, but in a cooler color, and a twinge of jealousy washed over me.

I let it go.

"Uhh, yep. These might just be our problem. We should just chuck them into a Stash Your Trash can and I'll go take the subway home so we can get on with this."

"You really wanna get this game over with, don't you?"

I scoffed. "Every Silent Hill protagonist has a strong sense of duty to complete their game, even if we have to do it fifty billion times. _You_ should know that_._ You're my supporting role."

"Yeah... " He looked somewhat reluctant. "Alright, fine. I'll stand over there looking clueless and you head to the next level. I'll see you at the Dead Harry cutscene."

"Roger. Should we do our lines?" I asked.

"Up to you. Do ya think anyone's watching?"

I got up and stood there for a moment, to see if I felt anything. "Hmm... hard to say. But whatever, let's just do it anyway." I nodded over to Valtiel, and he crawled off out of the camera angle. Douglas then followed me up through the glass doors and into the next area.

We scrambled to get into our respective positions.

"Heather!"

"It's you!" I eyed him suspiciously, though I felt like a complete moron.

"What just happened?"

"You must be one of them—oh, goddammit. Screw this." I cut to the chase and hurried over to the Subway tunnel. "I'm taking the subway home."

He shrugged. "What should I do?"

"Hell if I know."

"Try to make God manifest, or this is going to be really boring!" he shouted suddenly.

"I know, I know!" I yelled back, just before the pitch black loading screen.

Once inside the Subway tunnel, I walked forward and made a right, then broke out into a sprint past the repeating Fruity Rouge and Minmo cat food advertisements. I passed through the door at the end of the hallway and came out into an open area.

That's when I started to feel lost.

I rubbed my sore head and looked around. I must have taken a harder whack than I thought. "I should know this place..." I muttered under my breath. Had I not run through it millions upon millions of times? Certainly I had, but never by myself. I walked over and peered into the glass of the employee booth next to the turnstiles. I squinted at the pictures inside, and could make out that a few of them were from Silent Hill 2, where James encountered the first Lying Figure. "Huh, never noticed that before."

I wandered around the side and found the Subway map. I picked it up and opened it.

___Holy crap this place is a maze..._

Tunnels and platforms were mirrored on either side, on multiple levels. I did have a vague memory of being guided through the place many times, but it still looked horribly confusing.

_...Hazel... No, Bergen Street... Platform... 3...?_

Suddenly, I fell forward, and it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I landed face down. "AH!" _Something_ had a hold of the back of my vest, and was shaking me back and forth. It unleashed a high-pitched howl, then bit down into my right shoulder.

"Ow! Stop it!" I cried, and much to my surprise—it did. The hefty weight lifted itself up off of my back. I looked up and right into the stare of a lone Double Head. I backed away into the side of the wall to get away from it, but it just sat there.

"W-what... the..." I stammered.

It slowly turned its split heads to the side... and it _almost_ looked cute. My heart was racing. It was then that I realized I had actually felt pain from a monster attack for the first time, and it had really scared the bejesus out of me. I looked down as I rubbed my shoulder, but it hadn't really left much of a mark.

The Double Head let out an "arf!"

I stared at it.

"Alessa's afraid of dogs... that's why you guys are in the game..." I said slowly.

The creature stood up and wagged what little stump of tail it had, then moved closer to me. I reached over and touched its side with a mixture of fascination and disgust. Its bandages were a little slimy. I quickly wiped my hand off on the floor.

"I'm supposed to be afraid of you too... but I guess I'm really not..."

I rested my head back against the wall. "Thinking about this stuff is starting to burn me out." I looked around and realized the room was very dim. I felt around in my pockets and was shocked to find a pair of items wrapped up inside of a sheet of multipurpose paper. It was a note, written neatly in black script:

___You left these behind._

___Don't give up._

___We're all rooting for you!_

___Valtiel_

It was the radio and missing flashlight from the Nightmare Mall.

"How the hell did he cross over like that anyway?" I grumbled, but I was more than grateful for the gesture. I slowly got to my feet and dusted myself off before switching on the flashlight and tucking it into the appropriate pocket. I then flipped the radio on and toyed with the volume control. It settled on a low static hiss as it picked up on the monster sitting beside me. I took a few steps forward, but the white noise only grew louder.

"You're... coming with me?" I asked warily.

The monster nodded its two heads, but it stayed silent.

"Yeah, fine." I relented. "But I'm a little lost and might not be able to find the exit. Say... can you help me find it?"

The Double Head reared back and howled, then took off.

"Hey, wait!" I gave chase as fast as I could, but after a minute it slowed down enough for me to follow without losing it. I had to open a door for us, but we finally made it to the chained up gate.

"Frick, I don't have the Nutcracker," I muttered as I rattled the bars. "You know, this reminds me of that movie Jacob's Ladder. I guess you wouldn't know about that, though."

The Double Head sat there for a moment, then suddenly took off down the tunnel again. I turned back to the gate and pulled as hard as I could on the chain, but the nut was screwed on pretty tight, and I couldn't turn it with just my hands.

I startled as I heard what sounded like fast and light footsteps behind me, and quickly turned back with the handgun clenched in my right hand.

To my relief, it was only the Double Head, and it had the Nutcracker wedged in the teeth of one of its split heads.

"Oh my God! Thank you so much!" I cried, as it dropped the item on the floor. I reached down to pick it up, then whipped around and used it on the gate. The chain dropped to the ground and the gate swung open without any sort of decent animation.

"Are you really gonna help me out through the whole level?" I asked. "It's a little cliche and all."

The Double Head panted and started to turn back.

"Eh, I guess it's fine for a little while. I'm so confused about this whole thing... and it doesn't help that my player left me hanging."

The Double Head circled back around and joined my party once again. I quietly wondered if I was the one escorting it, or possibly I might be the escort. Maybe it was just a temporary partnership of capable fighters, but that was unheard of in any true Silent Hill game.

We continued down the next staircase and made a right into the broken down subway train. Inside, I grabbed two boxes of ammo and walked over to the shotgun tucked inside of the gift box. I snatched it up, then we exited the car again. Up ahead, I saw an Insane Cancer resting on the ground, blocking the stairway off to the right.

I didn't really feel like messing around with it, so I just continued running alongside the train, but it shot up and side stepped right in front of me. I bumped into it and stumbled backwards, then fell back on my butt.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!" I yelled. The Double Head threw itself up between us, like it was trying to protect me. I got back up quickly and checked to make sure nothing had dropped out of my inventory.

The Insane Cancer grunted, but stayed put.

"You know, I never liked you guys anyway. I guess the symbolism is there somewhere, but I don't see it. I think Ito was just being a smartass or something... or maybe he just wanted to draw a fat dude." I then equipped my shotgun in case it was going to give us trouble, but it just stood there.

I patted the Double Head's rear end and it turned back to me. I kept the shotgun aimed on the Insane Cancer as we passed it by, then continued around and we hurried down the staircase.

The loading screen seemed to hang up for a few extra seconds, and when I came to, I heard the smartphone beep inside of my pocket. I'd completely forgotten about it, and as I pulled it out I was seriously considering just hurling it against the wall.

It was Vincent again:

******Haha remmember when iwas like,, they look like monsters to you?**

I scowled and tried to resist, but I had to say something:

******Learn how to type, moron. Then STFU. **

Satisfied, I sent off the text and jammed the phone back into my pocket. It beeped again a moment later, but I ignored it.

"I have to get home," I told the Double Head. "I should probably talk to my dad about all of this... but I don't wanna use this lousy phone anymore than I have to. Do you think he'll still be alive when I get there? Of course I hope he isn't... but he might have some advice. Should I ask Claudia to keep him alive?"

The creature cocked its heads to the side, just as I had anticipated.

I rolled my eyes. "Now I'm asking nonverbal monsters about stuff. Makes me almost wish Lisa was in this game."

We continued on until we'd arrived at Platform 3, then I motioned for the Double Head to wait. I jumped down and checked the broken locked door, then ran my ass as fast as I could to scramble back up. It was a wasted effort, as I noted the distinct lack of dog-like nipping urging me back up onto the ledge.

At first, I thought nothing had happened, but after a few seconds I heard the sound of the train. It was moving at a slower speed than it should have been, but I was so glad to see it, it didn't matter.

We sprinted up along the side of the cars and through a couple of loading screens. The subway doors were open and waiting. I pushed the Double Head through them as fast as I could, then hopped in at the last second before they closed.

Once inside the car, I walked forward a few steps and stumbled across a Halo of the Sun painted on the floor in bright red. A save point.

_Should I...?_

Was the game really worth saving? I'd been playing by myself for a while now, and cheating my way through. The time was going to suck no doubt, because the player was some sort of idiot who left their game unpaused for long periods of time.

I kneeled down next to the Halo of the Sun and stared down into it, unsure of how it worked exactly.

I peered at the fluorescent red paint, trying my best to concentrate. The Double Head pranced over to join me. My vision went completely red, then I noticed that I could see both of our reflections.

I gently pushed it out of the way. "Shoo, you're messing me up."

The screen blinked red again, and it finally happened—I think.

******01. In the train 06: 09: 09**

"Six hours to get through the Subway?" I shouted. "Freakin' hell!"

I immediately regretted saving. The game ranking would be utter crap, and I'd be lucky to get four stars. I sighed but then remembered that if I could just get through this game, things might return to normal once and for all. It was the only hope I had left to cling on to. I stood back up straight and patted the worried-looking Double Head. I cycled through my inventory to switch out my equipped weapon to the handgun, then jogged up to the door to the next car ahead. "C'mon, let's go."

I opened the door, fell forward, and abruptly died on the tracks.


	3. Chapter 3: Troublemaker

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 3: Troublemaker**

I immediately regretted saving. The game ranking would be utter crap, and I'd be lucky to get four stars. I sighed but then remembered that if I could just get through this game, things might return to normal once and for all. It was the only hope I had left to cling on to. I stood back up straight and patted the worried-looking Double Head. I cycled through my inventory to switch out my equipped weapon to the handgun, then jogged up to the door to get to the next car ahead. "C'mon, let's go."

I froze as a strange feeling washed over me. I then did a quickturn and ran up to grab the handle of the door on the opposite side instead. I eased it open with an animation not found anywhere on the game disc or files.

"Numb Bodies? Are you in here?"

The second car was empty. I motioned for the Double Head to follow, but stay back a little. We trotted up to the third car, and then the next, and so forth.

The second to last car had all of them gathered inside, and there seemed to be a few more than usual.

"Oh, hey guys," I said, quickly hiding my gun out of view. "What are you all doing in here?"

___They can't talk, idiot. _I chuckled. "Sorry, I forgot you can't answer me."

The Numb Bodies leaned in close to each other like a huddle and cried their strange wail in varying degrees of volume. I glanced down at the Double Head, who appeared to be listening in.

"Did I offend them?" I asked nervously, then remembered the Double Head was also incapable of speech. I smacked my forehead. "Ugh, never mind." I marched up to the Numb Body gathering and looked around at them. "Look, I'm sure you all probably already know this, but our game has gone seriously out of whack."

The Numb Bodies seemed to nod in agreement, and let loose a few more soft wails.

"So, I'm calling a temporary truce, okay? I need to get through this game as fast as I can, and if you can help me out by not repeatedly body slamming me into the ground, it would be uh... really... ...helpful."

The monsters turned away from me and again leaned in to one another in a stereotypical fashion. Like they were talking it over.

"Okay?" I asked. They seemed to be taking a while, and I was getting impatient. Finally, they were all nodding or jumping around in satisfaction. Then they moved back from the door and made a way for us to get past.

"Thanks. I appreciate it. Really." I went to high-five a couple of them, but then noticed they had no damn arms. I stuck my right hand awkwardly into my side skirt pocket as I opened the door with my left.

"You're all awesome. I might just juke past you all in the next play through!" I yelled before disappearing into the loading screen.

When I came to, I looked down at the monster sniffing around the floor. "Hey... wasn't there supposed to be an Insane Cancer in there somewhere?"

The Double Head howled a quick reply that might have been a "yes."

"Weird... wonder where it went. Hey, I have a question to ask since it seems I can somewhat understand you right now. Are all monsters unique, or are you all just copies who think the same thing? Does it vary by type?"

The creature tilted its heads to the side, like it might have been doing some thinking.

"If I can convince one Slurper to not chew my leg off, will all Slurpers know not to?"

Once again, the monster looked befuddled. I shrugged. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it then." I stepped up a few feet so the train car could throw me forward, but it eased its way to a stop for the first time that I could remember. I lead the way over to the doors as they slid open and we stepped out onto the platform.

"Sometimes I feel like you're only following me so I have someone to talk to... like it's a convenience to someone," I told the monster, as we plodded along. I stopped for a few seconds to save my game on the wall. We made a left turn and continued on until we ran into a blue door on the right. We passed through it.

"I mean, I'm really thankful for your help and all, it's just it feels a little _too _convenient. And I don't wanna get attached, either... do you understand?"

The Double Head peered up at me, and it looked a little sad as we walked down an entirely overdone stairway.

"I know, I know. But you're a monster. I'm a protagonist. _You're_ an enemy_. _This isn't gonna work out in the end."

The monster stopped dead in its tracks and sat down on a step, and I could swear it looked depressed. I plopped down next to it and put an arm around it. "Aw, c'mon, don't be that way. Besides, do you know what my dad would say if he could see us right now? I've got a serious legacy to uphold."

The monster whined softly, and it only made me feel worse. "Don't do that... I actually do really like you. It's just... people are gonna start talking. And good God, I can't let Vincent see us together. I'd _never_ hear the end of it."

The Double Head whined again and pawed at me with its bandaged up limb.

"And... well, you know I'm really Alessa, don't you? And dog type monsters are supposed to be the scariest thing ever. They even put you guys in two games! Ya know, besides those things in The Room. But I'm not in that so..."

We sat in silence for while longer.

I flopped back on the staircase. "Okay you know what? Fine. Just until the end of this game. I still feel like I'm gonna catch hell for it, though."

The monster let out a long howl and wagged its tail stump so hard, some of the bandages looked like they were coming loose. I patted one side of its head and grinned. "C'mon, let's go kick this Sewer's ass."

At the bottom of the stairs and to the left was a broken locked gate. We made a right down the long stretch of hallway and broke out into a run to get to the door faster. Once inside, I made an incorrect right turn, and slammed my face into a second locked gate. "Ow!" I rubbed my eyes and nose and waited for the stars to fade.

"You know what's weird..." I said. "I'm actually feeling pain in this game. Like, for reals. Before I think I was just pretending and using my audio files to fake it..."

The Double Head whined, like it may have been concerned.

"And I actually feel kinda hungry too, even though looking at you makes me sick a lot of the time. But we are in the Sewer and I'm sure it won't last long." I turned to face the right way and pointed my flashlight up ahead. "Let's just get through this level."

Suddenly, a long series of annoying-as-hell repetitive screeches filled the air.

_Oh no._

So damn loud. So damn annoying. It _had_ to be a Pendulum.

I shined my flashlight beam down the darkened corridor, and there it was. "Hey!" I shouted at it. "Sit down and shut up for a second!"

The Pendulum ignored anything I tried to say, and instead barreled through the air in our direction. I quickly ducked out of the way and watched as it turned around, still spinning, still screeching.

___It can't hear me over its own freaking sound effects... _

"Come, doggy thing!" I commanded, and we both made a long mad dash for the next blue door.

We loaded in at the same time and stopped for a moment inside to catch our breath. I looked around. The room looked pretty ordinary... but something felt like it was missing.

___The maul._

It wasn't an unlockable. Someone _had_ to have stolen it.

"Someone took my maul. I can't believe it," I huffed. "Yeah, it's heavy and annoying to use, but I still wanted to collect it for completion purposes..."

The Double Head gave a low sympathy whine.

"But ya know, I noticed at least _one_ good thing. Stuff hasn't gone completely to hell here. The subway train was slow and my maul's missing, but that's it, really. I'd say we're in pretty good shape so far." I walked over and peeled the Underpass map off of the wall and opened it up to the view screen.

___This place doesn't look too bad... _

I began to feel a lot better.

We started for the door, but I paused to take a look at the yellow safety helmets hanging up on the wall. "These are pretty geeky-looking, huh. Did you wanna try one on? Or maybe two?"

The Double Head seemed to shake its split heads "no."

"Yeah, didn't think so," I snickered, as I went for the door handle.

We passed by a few quiet corridors and a couple of bored looking Numb Bodies. Even a few of the larger ones. I nodded to them as we sprinted past and went to collect the Empty wine bottle. We hurried past an extremely long tunnel and I had to stop to catch my breath again. The Double Head appeared to be winded as well. We continued on and down another few shorter hallways and into a new room. I filled the Empty wine bottle with kerosene from the broken down heater, then saved my game again.

"I remember this part," I said, and gave the monster a reassuring smile. "We're really moving now."

We exited the room and jogged back up the hallway on the other side. I used the Oil-filled bottle on the fuel tank on the lift and flipped the switch. The nasty water drained down the ladder and I peered down into the hole.

"Hmm... yep, that is making me sick," I said. I covered my nose with the back of my hand and looked over at the critter next to me. "Whaddaya think? Can you make it down?"

The dog-like thing dropped down into the hole before I could say anything else. I reached over and grabbed the rungs of the ladder, wondering if it had actually survived the fall. The blackness of the loading screen soon took me away.

Amazingly, at the bottom, the Double Head had taken very little damage. I thumped it on the back for a job well done as we sprinted up the slimy stairway, then up and over another set of stairs made of metal. "Nice texture work," I said as I glanced up and around us. "It's a shame so many people take it for granted." We ran through another screen or two, crossed a bridge, and ended up in an open area with some mucky water. "Follow me," I said, and ran to the nearby door. Another way-too-long stairway and hall awaited. I huffed as we ran over a second bridge.

"Wait!" I ran back and peeked over the edge. "There's a monster that's supposed to be down there..." I pointed. "I remember it."

We both shrugged, well I did anyway, and we continued on. I opened the door to the gross-smelling trash heap room and picked up the Dryer off of the chair. Unsurprisingly, the monster still wasn't around when we retraced our path over the bridge. I was starting to get tired, but running down the stairs was much easier than going up and we were soon on our way to the next area. We ran around, rather than hop into the muck and my hand reached for the doorknob of the next blue door.

I paused before opening it. I thought I heard something weird... like out of place country music coming through the door.

"What the hell..." I said, as I leaned forward and pressed my ear against it.

I was caught off balance as the door swung itself open, and I fell right into the room. "AH!"

The twangy music was blaring, and inside were three, yes, THREE Sewer Fairies.

Three of them.

The bug-eyed Sewer Fairy holding onto the doorknob gasped and screamed, "A monster! Aaahhh! Kill it!"

The Double Head growled and looked like it was about to lunge.

"NO!" I yelled, and grabbed her pipe at the last second before it hit the Double Head. "Stop, wait!" ___Ow. _I cursed as I got to my feet and shoved her away. "Listen, it's my monster, okay? Don't hurt it." I turned my attention to my stinging hand, flexing my fingers to see if I'd broken anything. It sure felt like I had.

The music cut off.

"Your... monster? Like... your _pet_ monster?" She let out a giggle and put her hands on her hips like she was about to scold a child. "Who do you think you are, Claudia or something?"

"Shut up," I grumbled. "Look, our game is all _kinds_ of screwed up if you hadn't noticed." I peered over her shoulder. "There are two extra Sewer Fairies behind you. That's two TOO MANY." I raised my voice again in irritation, like she could really blame me for breaking one lousy rule.

She snickered and spoke again in her whimsical voice. "They aren't copies, you know. Their names are Jose and Jaime. They're actually real characters."

"WHAT!" I screamed. "The guys who work in this dump? They're not supposed to be FAIRIES! They're DEAD! They don't even have character models or voice actors!"

She gave a short chuckle, and it sounded absolutely heavenly. "Yes, and I am the other guy with the famous knife skillz!"

My eyes went wide. "NO... no you aren't. Okay, that's enough. Quit screwing around. Can I at least have my gold and silver pipes? I think I deserve them after all this trouble."

She sneered the most beautiful sneer I'd ever seen. "Why do you need them, monster lover? Whose brains are you gonna bash in?"

I sighed as if admitting a defeat. "That gold pipe looked so snazzy, I really just wanted to sell it. Anyway, my point is you guys should not be here. There should only be ONE fairy, and she doesn't have a name and furthermore..." I pointed at the two extra fairies, "you two are_ not_ Jose and Jaime. They're only mentioned once in a tiny little memo in this room, which I see is conveniently missing."

"I don't have a name, but I'm the guy with the wicked knifework who wanted to use a grenade on the monster over in the next room," she replied lyrically.

"I think I need to sit down..." I said, and slid into a desk chair in complete shock. The Double Head rested its heads on my knee and looked up at me. I buried my face into my hands, even though they smelled super gross from climbing down the ladder earlier.

_My whole world has gone insane._

"Knifework guy is dead," I said at last.

"No, I'm right here." she replied, followed by an alluring smile.

"Jose and Jaime are dead too."

"No, they're over there looking at Youtube videos on their phones, because they have nothing better to do. They can't talk, you see."

"That's because they don't have voice act—smartphones?" I shot a look over at the fairy impostors. They were indeed browsing away on mobile devices.

"Smartph— ...Vincent," I stuttered. "Dammit. I should've known he would have something to do with this."

"I've said too much," she said, and made a zipper motion over her lips with an angelic hand.

"Why'd he do it? HOW'D he do it?" I demanded.

"I'm not sure, but he didn't seem satisfied and left shortly after. He did call us hot, though."

"Huh? I always thought he was asexual like the rest of us. I mean, c'mon. Vincent? Really?"

She nodded. "Oh yes, he liked us at first, but when I told him we were all men, he stormed off rather quickly. Not that there's anything wrong with that... we weren't too interested either."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh my God... okay then. Sorry I thought you were all women at first... and ya know what, I'm sorry for denying your existence too."

The fairy smiled in a most captivating way. "That's all right. For some reason, I feel I may have made a similar mistake in the past."

"Uhh, I hate to ask this. Can I please have those pipes?"

The three fairies nodded among themselves, and presented me with one pipe each. A steel, silver, and gold pipe were simultaneously added to my inventory.

"Thanks, um... dudes. You guys are all right. Sorry about the misunderstanding. This screwy game is really... getting to me." I tapped my forehead and continued through to the next area with my Double Head at my heels.


	4. Chapter 4: Gone Rogue

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 4: Gone Rogue**

___I don't want to think so..._

___but maybe this is all just going on in my head._

___That radio could have hit me harder than I thought, and now I'm lying unconscious in a hospital bed..._

___I don't know what's real anymore..._

___..._

___Cybil said Cheryl was heading towards the—_

My Double Head gave a long mournful howl, snapping me out of it. "Oh, sorry," I said, blinking a little. "Hey... have we run into any nurses yet?"

The dog-shaped thing growled a short "no," then gave me a funny look with both of its faces.

"Heh, yeah. We're still in the Sewer. My bad." I looked around to see that we had arrived in the room with the monster in the water, but the blood on the walls and doors was missing.

More importantly, there was no monster.

"Crap, what am I gonna do with this old Dryer," I whined. "I don't want it clogging up my inventory anymore." I ran over to the wall outlet and used it anyway, just to get rid of it.

The Double Head and I watched the semi-impressive light display, then continued over the small metal bridge unscathed. I already had all three of my pipes, so I ignored the possibility of an extra Sewer Fairy. We exited through the door, crossed the next hallway, through passed yet another blue door. It was a mucky water area again, and the screeching of ten thousand Pendulums echoed in the air, which meant there were at least two or three.

I groaned as we were forced to hop down into the nasty water, then climb back out to get to the new door. After the next screen, The Double Head shook its fur and bandages, and brown liquid flew all over the place.

"Hey, watch it!" I shouted, and stepped back in disgust. "Eww, you smell so much worse now. Actually, we both do. I could really use a shower."

The Double Head growled softly.

"I know, you probably don't care. I guess it's impossible for video game characters to use a bathtub anyway... at least Silent Hill ones." I paused for a moment, then sighed. "I wonder if any of the other protagonists have ever had this much trouble before."

We hurried down an obscenely long stairway, ignoring a couple of creepy sound effects thrown in for good measure, then back up the seemingly same set of stairs still going the same direction. We paused to catch our breath again, and yet another blue door awaited. Through there was a large set of metal stairs, and at the top a ladder.

"Uh oh," I said, looking up.

The Double Head let out a long doggy whine, and I watched as it tried to jump up onto the rungs.

"Here, let me help."

Somehow, I lifted it up onto the first steps, then pushed its rear end up through the top of the opening. My legs were starting to burn, but I managed to climb up myself. "You'd think Henry could've done that with Eileen," I snickered to the creature. We jogged together past a bunch of construction scenery, then made a sharp right and I stopped to save my game on a Halo of the Sun painted barrel. I lead the way through the double doors nearby. Down the hall and up another set of stairs we went, while assorted crashing and banging noises seemed to haunt out every step.

"This isn't my favorite level," I whispered, "But it's better than that damn Subway."

Most floors were locked "for safety's sake," (whatever that meant), so of course we had to find a way to get into those areas. I lead my monster up each floor, checking every door along the way in case something was different. Finally, the fifth floor door opened and we entered. I ran down the hall and peeked into the bathroom. I had to admit, the thumping footsteps sound effects were kind of neat. We then loaded through the door to the right.

Outside, we came across the 'Black Cat' wall with the Silencer and the random hanging legs. I gave the plaster a few good smacks with my steel pipe. I sneezed, then reached down to pick the item up out of the dusty rubble.

Behind us was the squatter's cardboard mansion, and as I turned around I noticed a Health drink sitting on top of one of the boxes. I grabbed it and moved over to the gross filthy mattress beside the hole. I selected "yes" on the prompt to drop it down into the hole, and waited half a second for the black screen to clear. It hadn't been animated, but the mattress was gone now and I knew it was safe to drop down.

I gave the Double Head a gentle nudge over the edge with my boot. "Move over, I'm coming down!" I shouted, then hopped down myself.

We ducked through the nearby hole in the wall and I nearly slipped off the edge of a narrow piece of scaffolding. "Whoa!" The Double Head pulled back on my vest with both sets of its teeth, saving me from having to reload the game. "THANKS!" I yelled, over the hellish screeching of Pendulums that were blowing out my eardrums. We moved away from them as fast as we dared, took a left turn, then went to climb into the window of the Hilltop Center.

I collapsed down into one of the comfy leather chairs to rest for a minute. "Thank goodness we made it," I said, looking over at the monster. "I'm getting pretty tired. Playing your own game is a lot of work."

The Double Head seemed to nod in agreement.

"Vincent is in here somewhere, and I really need to have a word with him. Can you hang back a little just before our cutscene?"

The Double head "arfed" which I took as a "yes".

"Thanks for being so understanding," I replied, and pulled myself back up.

We wandered along an empty corridor, trying a few of the broken locked doors, then came across the mannequin jump scare room. "Heads up," I warned, not completely getting the joke at first, and ran to the other side of the shelves to grab the shotgun ammo. The mannequin played its audio scream and its bloody head flew off as planned. "That's my scream Akira used, not sure why," I told the Double Head. "But sometimes they mix it up and it's a different one."

Down the hall and through another door we went. I pointed my flashlight beam around a corner and saw that a pair of Double Heads were napping nearby against the wall together. "Hey," I called out to them. They both lifted their four heads and started to pant in unison. I then noticed they were both slightly smaller than ___my _monster. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but I settled on the possibility that perhaps mine had grown up just a bit through our few hours together. I shrugged it off and we continued.

We passed through another hallway, checking all of the doors. I finally found the one leading into Monica's Dance Studio. In the office, I broke into some poor sucker's desk using my pipe for leverage on the drawer. Inside was the Rope, which I quickly stuck into my inventory. "That was too easy," I whispered. We returned to the hallway and made our way to the stairwell. Upstairs on the fifth floor was the Gallery of Fine Arts, where I quickly ran to where the katana was hidden away in a back room. Thankfully, it was still there and I picked it up before moving on. The KMN Auto Parts area was next, and on the shelf inside I found the Jack. We loaded back out to the stairwell and trotted down to the third floor.

"Here's what I'm gonna do," I said, as we approached the elevator door left open a crack. "I'll tie some of the Rope around you and lower you down, then I'll attach it to something and climb down. Got it?"

The Double Head yipped an encouraging yip, and I wrapped the rope around it in several places. "Maybe I should tie your heads back together while I'm at it," I mused. "Okay, here we go."

I used the Jack on the doors, which the developers _had_ bothered to animate, even though I couldn't actually tell what my hands were doing.

"Ready?"

"Arf!"

I scooted the Double Head towards the edge with my foot, and held the Rope wrapped around both of my hands and wrists. I tried to brace myself against the doors, but the monster was a lot heavier than I thought.

Like, way, way heavy.

I slipped forward and we plummeted down the elevator shaft, one after the other.

...

_Oww..._

I woke up to the high-pitched sound of doggy-like whining and a God-awful stench.

"How long was I out?" I asked, wiping the excess monster drool off of my cheek. The monster whined again, and I then saw that I had most likely landed on it, because it seemed to be hurt quite badly.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered, rather uncharacteristically. I slowly sat up to inspect the damage. "Oh God... I'm sorry. That was a pretty stupid idea, wasn't it?" I reached down and patted its sticky bandages. The Double Head whimpered a pitiful sound, like it may have forgiven me already.

It made me feel worse, but at least_ I_ hadn't gotten too hurt. My menu screen showed I was only blinking on medium yellow. I dug into my pocket for the lone Health drink I'd picked up in my adventures. I twisted the lid off and started to take a sip, but glanced over.

"Ya know... this whole thing really was my fault," I said. "Here, you can have it." I then wondered if lesser monsters were capable of getting any benefit out of health items.

I put an arm around the Double Head, helping it hold its split faces together, then poured the liquid slowly out into my cupped hand. It was a bit awkward, and we spilled some, but the monster managed to lap up most of the drink. To my relief it seemed to do the trick, and soon the creature had risen to its feet with a good hard shake. It then gave me a look of such genuine gratitude, I couldn't help but smile. I wiped my hands off on my skirt and slowly stood up, ignoring the mild amount of pain I was in.

"Okay, now where the hell are we? This area isn't really in the game."

We were probably on the first floor by now, and Vincent was most definitely on the second, only he was...

_...in the Green Ridge Mental Health Clinic..._

I froze up for what seemed like the millionth time.

"He's supposed to be in the Nightmare Hilltop Center..."

The monster nodded.

"But... there isn't one." I said slowly.

Awkward silence followed.

I sighed and gazed around the elevator shaft. We seemed to be standing on top of the elevator itself, and directly in front of us was a set of doors. I wedged my steel pipe between the crack and the Double Head grabbed two mouthfuls of my clothing to help out as I pulled back on the weapon with all of my might.

The doors miraculously opened and we came out into the Hilltop Center lobby. I'd never actually seen it in the non-Nightmare form, so I took a few seconds to have a look around. Of course there was no Glutton blocking the way of the front entrance, no crappy fairy tale pages, and no reason to recite _Tu Fui, Ego Eris._ I frowned as I turned and moved away from the door. A strange noise was echoing throughout the darkened hallway, like a mixture of voices and heavy bass music. I took a few cautious steps towards the sound and equipped my handgun. The Double Head followed.

The Last Drop Cafe was to the left of the restrooms facing south. The door had been left unlocked, but I took a moment to ready my weapon. "Wait," I whispered. Then I took a deep breath. I twisted the knob and raised my right leg, kicking the door open with a _slam!_ Unsure of what to expect, I was already pointing my gun into the room when the black screen cleared. But what I saw next nearly made my jaw drop to the floor.

The whole cafe was lit up cheerfully, and mounted on the wall inside were numerous flat screen televisions blaring various Real World channels.

"What the hell!"

At least the place wasn't crammed full of weird people like I'd half been expecting. Nevertheless, I walked in a few steps cautiously and scanned the room.

Messy plates of food and drink were strewn about on the tables. Some half eaten, a few only picked at. There were wine glasses and tipped over bottles scattered everywhere. The cutlery was all fine silver, and the plates and bowls made out of bone china. Nothing like what you'd find in a typical hole in the wall coffee shop. This stuff looked expensive, and not at all Silent Hillesque (unless you could count the Baldwin residence). I rubbed my eyes for the thousandth time and wandered in further. The large futuristic TVs were cranked up entirely too loud, clouding over the few thoughts my head could manage. A tacky purple sofa with velvet pillows was shoved into a corner of the room, along with a coffee table holding several bottles of top shelf booze. The Double Head seemed too afraid to enter, and stayed right by the entrance.

"This... is so..." I paused, staring down at the table to the side of me. It was covered in porno magazines, a few of which may have been stolen from Mike's apartment in Silent Hill 4: The Room. "Th-this is..." I stammered, still trembling from shock.

My hand reached into my right vest pocket, recovering the long forgotten phone. I tried to unlock it, but my hands were shaking too much. After a few failed attempts, I opened it up and scrolled over to the text message list. I had one missed SMS.

Vincent:

******Iknow about thr pleasures of THIS. world**

I tucked the phone away into my pocket again, blinking hard.

"Really?"

I took a few deep breaths. Then I started to laugh...

And I couldn't stop.

Not for a long time.

...

It got pretty uncomfortable, actually.

___I'm losing my marbles._

I was still snickering a little but finally managed to stop. "It's just so... yeah... that's totally him. Everything but the dirty magazines and all. But I guess that explains those Sewer Fairies he made." I wiped my hands down my arms, like I was trying to somehow clean myself off after having walked in there.

"What a freak..." I muttered, as I went ahead and pulled the door closed again. I then turned and looked down at the monster. "My house is just up the street," I told it. "I need you to chill out somewhere nearby while I stop there for a couple of cutscenes with Claudia and Douglas. Okay?"

"Arf!"

We made our way to the front entrance side by side, and I gave it a pat as we walked outside together.


	5. Chapter 5: Many Awkward Meetings

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 5: Many Awkward Meetings**

I realized I'd gotten very tired and sore as we trudged our way up the darkened street towards Daisy Villa. I wondered if I could actually fall asleep in the car during the ride to Silent Hill with Douglas. Then I began to wonder how the hell I was going to sneak my monster into the car with us. I really did want to take it with me, but I had serious doubts he would understand how I could be hanging out with some lesser critter in my party.

___Just play it cool, he might be okay with it..._

The Apartment building was just up the road ahead, then down an alley to the left. I would need to park my Double Head somewhere close by, but somewhere it wouldn't scare the crap out of Douglas and cause him to shoot it (assuming his gun worked).

We soon arrived at the back entrance. "Wait here," I instructed, "and don't make any noise no matter what. I'll come pick you up when I'm ready, 'kay?"

The monster nodded its split heads, then laid down next to the bottom step. It looked exhausted.

Once inside, I started out at a sprint towards the Halo of the Sun painted on the board out front. I stared into it. Something felt a bit off, and my previous saves must have gotten corrupted, because the data I entered next overwrote nothing.

******01 Apt. Hall 09: 09: 06**

"Nine hours, good Lord," I sighed. Could my ranking sink lower than one star? I assumed it would, because my time sucked so bad, and I'd hardly picked up enough supplies or killed any enemies or bosses. Blacking out in those elevators for unknown stretches of time hadn't helped one bit.

The only working apartment door, 102, was waiting for me as I turned back around. I hurried over to it and used my house key, then entered the loading screen to wait for one of the saddest cutscenes in the entire series.

___Please be dead, or please somehow just be the Revenge ending _I silently prayed. The black screen cleared and I looked up ahead. Thankfully, everything appeared to be running normally. I saw the chair turned towards the old television set, and my dad's lifeless arm resting upon it. I gave a few short steps out of habit and stretched my arms over my head. "Dad, I'm home. Listen... something really crazy is going on... I think we shoul—mmf!" Someone grabbed me from behind and clamped a large hand over my mouth before I could get out the rest of my lines. I struggled, and both of my hands flew up to pull their arm away. The coat sleeve looked a lot like Douglas's.

"Get it!" someone barked, then I felt his other hand start groping at my lower right vest pocket.

I kicked hard, but he was actually pretty strong. He lifted me up, and I couldn't get loose. Before I could do anything else, I heard the phone clatter to the floor and shatter into pieces as he stomped on it. It was only then, he let go of me.

I spun around to face him and give him some serious hell. "Why did you..." I managed to say, but then I started to feel weird...

...then everything started to hurt.

I collapsed down to the floor, clutching the sides of my head. _Oh, God! Oh, GOD! _my brain was screaming. My entire body locked up as the crippling pain tore right through my skull and seemed to shoot down into the rest of me. The worst migraine ever times ten, combined with cramps straight from the bowels of hell. My cries soon gave way to uncontrollable screaming and praying and cursing. It only got worse.

___It hurts. _

___It actually hurts._

___"Heather!?"_

___..._

The room was dark and blurry now, and everything had gone sideways. The horrific pain had faded, and I thought I must have died.

There were shadows moving overhead.

Then I felt nothing.

...

_"Ugh..."_

I tried to move, but I probably only twitched.

"Are you okay?"

_No..._

_Eh, maybe._

A gentle, shy voice. It sounded a lot like Henry Townsend.

Naturally, this was impossible. What, being the wrong game and all.

I was curled up on my right side. My eyes started to open up by themselves, but my head was aching and I felt dizzy... and maybe I was just going to puke right there and then. Luckily, I didn't. I was staring into the face of a rather worried-looking Valtiel.

And Henry was next to him.

"What..." I blinked. "What the..."

"...hell?" Henry said, with a look of restrained amusement.

"Uh, right. Thanks." I couldn't resist rolling my eyes, though it hurt to do so.

I pulled myself up on one arm and looked over at Valtiel. "What the hell is going on?" He literally could not say, so he pointed what digits he had over at the dining table. It was then I noticed that I was still in my own house. A fully-clothed Douglas was sitting in a chair, along with my father's inanimate corpse. They weren't talking, but they weren't looking over, either.

Also, my father wasn't an inanimate corpse.

I gasped and turned back to Valtiel and Henry, trembling. "I'm freaking out!" I told them. "I'm losing it. The game is over. Shut it down now." Valtiel was holding my hand and patting it sympathetically, but I wasn't feeling any better.

Finally, Douglas got up from his chair and wandered over. "Heather, we got ___really _big problems," he said.

I pointed a finger straight at him. _"YOU!"_

He backed away, raising up his hands. "Hold on..."

"No! I'm not HOLDING ON! My father isn't dead!" I then pointed accusingly at the character sitting at the table. "He hasn't been murdered!"

"B-but it's not my fault," he stammered. "Claudia never showed up!"

___What._

I lowered my angry pointy finger in surprise. "But she... wait, she didn't?"

"That's not even the worst of it. The whole game's messed up... and everything's getting a little too real."

My undead dad stood up from the table, but he wasn't facing us. "Heather, I'm not your father," he said.

___Whatthehellisgoingon... Whatthehellisgoingon..._

"Then who the hell are you?" I demanded, fighting to keep my voice steady. "And who was I talking to on the phone earlier?"

"You should know well enough that phone conversation is supposed to be one-sided," he replied, and he sounded like...

Guy Cihi.

He finally turned around, but he still looked like Dead Harry to me, except for his voice and his face. They were different.

"Retextured James?"

"Just his character model. But the original developers never wanted you to see him like this. That's why they put in the letterboxes," he explained.

"Then you're..."

"I'm James. James Sunderland. I'm channeling through the character model of Dead Harry." He then peeled off his retextures to reveal the familiar green jacket, and his hair melted back into the proper shape and color.

"YOU CAN DO THAT!?" I screamed. Valtiel started to fan my face.

"Listen, Heather," said Douglas. "Harry, Dead Harry, and Alien Harry aren't the same person. Harry and Dead Harry are separate characters given the illusion of being the same. Harry's still alive back in the first game, he's only dead in this one."

"What?" I couldn't possibly take another bombshell, but everyone kept dropping them. "Ugh, okay, I'm starting to understand this... I think. It's just weird. Who was I talking to at the start of the game?"

"Vincent tricked you... and he's been trying to trick all of us. This has gotten way outta hand... We need some help. So I called a meeting of protagonists to discuss it. The Fantastic Four."

"We're still waiting for Harry to get here," Henry said softly.

I blinked. "Harry from Silent Hill? But... he's still my dad, isn't he?"

"That's between you and him," replied Douglas. "But there's a problem."

"What?"

"Heather," said James uncomfortably, "you're in trouble... it's kinda hard to explain..."

___Huh._

I sat up all the way and looked right at him. "Oh yeah? What kinda trouble?"

Douglas, Henry, and Valtiel all looked uncomfortable now. I raised an eyebrow at them. "Well?"

James turned away to the side. "You... might be excommunicated from the original four protagonists. You'll be bumped down to be with the others... and we won't associate with you anymore." He lifted his gaze and looked over at me again. "We're leaving it up to Harry to decide."

"What, WHY," I cried, and a wave of panic spread through me. I started trembling again.

Douglas sighed heavily. "Heather... we know you've been making friends with monsters. Vincent told me everything."

"No! That isn't...! But what about Valtiel! Huh? I've always been buddies with him, and no one ever said anything."

James shook his head. "He's special. He's a helpful monster like Lisa, Maria, or Pyram..." he trailed off momentarily, "Red Pyramid Thing. So it's okay to be around him. But you can't go creating some army of monsters to help you. It's against the rules..."

"What about Henry's monster?"

"I guess mine's Joseph..." Henry mumbled.

I staggered up to a shaky stand and clenched my fists at my sides. "I am Heather Mason! I am the protagonist of Silent Hill 3 by Team Silent! It's been set in stone and nothing will _ever_ change that. I don't care what you idiots have to say about it!"

Jesus, I was getting angry.

"Harry has the final say," said Douglas. "He's the incorruptible protagonist."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

James nodded. "Harry's the good guy of the series, Heather. Pure of heart, above all of us. Even Vincent can't touch him."

"Huh... well, I can see how you might be a weirdo, James. But surely Henry and I aren't that bad."

James smirked at me. "You forget about that Possessed ending already? It's true, Harry _and _Henry are the only good souls between us four, but I'm not just talking about our story lines. You used the technology, and so did Henry."

Henry looked a little embarrassed. "I used my smartphone to get out of the apartment prematurely... and it actually worked. I just couldn't help myself..."

I looked back at James. "What happened to your phone?"

"Vincent hasn't crossed into 2 yet, but I know we aren't safe over there. That's why I'm here."

Douglas was looking at me carefully. "These phones are dangerous... they screw with your head. I had a hell of a time getting rid of mine, and I had to pry Henry's phone outta his hands. You even said it yourself that we should throw them away... but you didn't."

I frowned. "I guess... but Vincent said my dad was playing mobile games with him."

"Vincent is a damn_ liar_," said James. "He'd say anything to trick you. He even got you good at the start of the game with the payphone. The only good thing is he still thinks Harry is dead, and he doesn't know about me either... for now, anyway."

"And Claudia?"

"She's... " said Douglas, "broken, I guess. That's the best way I can describe it. She's stopped caring about the story."

"She doesn't want Paradise anymore?"

"Nope, apparently she likes her new 'stuff' better. Vincent's been giving her anything she wants."

"But they hate each other!"

Suddenly, the knob on the front door rattled, followed by a single knock. Everyone looked at each other, excluding me because I was still pretty pissed off.

Also, I was nervous.

___Dad._

"Who wants to get it," asked Douglas cautiously. "James, you're the one who called him."

"I can't believe he actually came, he was really reluctant," James replied, shaking his head.

He walked over to the front door and unlocked it, then raised his voice to a commanding tone. _"The lock isn't broken, you can open this door."_ He then turned and hurried back over to join us.

The doorknob twisted and the door swung itself open with a dramatic creak.

In stepped a man.

And that man was Harry Mason.

...

And wow, he looked _great_ for a Playstation character. He must have been using his FMV self.

"Dad..." I tried to say, but my voice had fallen to a thin whisper. I watched as he stood there and gazed around the room, studying the layout before taking a good look at anyone.

James cleared his throat nervously. "Hello, Harry. How are you?" He then chuckled rather uncharacteristically and added, "And before you say it, no we haven't seen a little girl anywhere."

Douglas elbowed him right in the ribs. "You want anyone making pillow jokes? Show the man some respect."

Henry walked up and held out his hand politely. "I'm Henry. It's nice to finally meet you..." Harry shook his hand, then Henry stepped back out of the way.

I couldn't take it anymore and stomped up.

"Are you my father?" I demanded.

He turned his head to look at me, then finally he spoke. "No," he said plainly. "My daughter is back in our game with her own character model. Sorry."

I bit my lip hard. I did feel crushed, but I knew I had to put up a front.

"Okay, then you're... you're just _Harry_ to me, jerk," I said.

"Well, that's what everyone calls me," he replied.

"But I'm the baby at the end of your game, you know."

He glanced around once more. "I feel weird being here. Do you mind if we get on with this?"

"Right down to business," said Douglas, shooting me a side eye. He pulled up a couple of extra chairs that I had never seen in my house before and shoved them up to the table.

"Let's get started," said James.

Everyone took a seat except for me and Valtiel. I plopped down on the floor next to him.

"I'll start, because I think I've gathered the most information," said Douglas.

"That's fair. What have you got?" asked Harry the jerk.

"Alright, well it's not so much what we've got, a lot of it is what we don't... The first big thing is the God's missing from our game. Also, some of the antagonists have changed. Vincent's still power hungry and manipulative... but he appears to have some control over the game now. It's the strangest thing."

"How has he done this?"

"We're still not sure," said James. "Douglas couldn't get a whole lot out of him. It's like he has some kind of link to the outside world. He's been introducing new technology and different items into the game, and we think he can... change people."

Harry leaned in closer. "Who's been affected?"

"Claudia, for one," said Douglas. "She's our other antagonist and religious maniac. Dahlia's protégé. But... she's lost all her zeal. Ya know, this sounds crazy... but she even told me she doesn't care about the salvation of mankind anymore. It just... isn't like her at all." He sighed. "Actually, I stopped running into her a while ago, but the last time I saw her she looked completely different."

"And the phones..." said Henry.

"Right. Vincent's been passing out these smartphones to everyone he runs in to. They're extremely hard to get rid of once they've been placed in your inventory."

"What's a 'smart phone'?" asked Harry, looking a little perplexed.

"Uhh, sorry." said James. "We forgot how old Silent Hill has gotten. They're these pocket-sized electronic devices. A telephone and computer built into one that you can take anywhere you want. But here, it seems like they're serving some darker purpose. Now, I know mind control sounds ridiculous, but... we know they do _something_ to your head."

Harry went quiet for a minute, then he asked, "Where is the God? Isn't it supposed to be inside of Heather?"

"Yeah, and it still is," replied Douglas. "But you see, the trigger's been broken. Claudia never said her lines, and Heather hasn't been able to manifest the God for us. ...We don't even have a Nightmare World."

I turned to Valtiel, feeling ashamed. He patted my arm.

"So you're missing your Nightmare World, one of your antagonists has gained too much power, and the other has stopped caring. Am I straight on that?" asked Harry.

"Yep," said Douglas.

"I see, uh... Valtiel... over there, but what about the lesser monsters? And the bosses? Are they still in the game?"

Douglas, James, and Henry looked over at me worriedly.

"Bosses are usually Nightmare World only," said Douglas. "But the monsters..."

"What?" asked Harry, appearing concerned for the first time.

James leaned forward. "That's the uh... 'problem' we talked about earlier," he said. "I didn't want to get in to it then, but..." He slammed his fist down on the table suddenly. "_Dammit_! Look, there are plenty of monsters running around, but she's been... she's been 'making friends' with them... Does that make _any_ sense at all?" He sighed and slumped back in his chair. "I didn't wanna believe it at first... but it's the truth."

The room went deadly quiet. My cheeks started to grow hot, and Valtiel put one freakish arm around me.

"Is it?" asked Harry, turning his head to study me carefully. For second or two, I thought maybe he could be my dad after all.

"Now look," Douglas said, coming to my defense, "maybe it was just that phone she was carrying around. Could've been doing strange things to her..."

Harry sighed. "A protagonist can't 'make friends' with lesser monsters. We shouldn't even be getting too close to our helpful ones." He shot a look over at Valtiel, who quickly let go of me.

"But if it's only for one play through..." said Henry softly.

Harry shook his head and leaned heavily on the table, looking down. "It's a very serious thing, you know. Very serious..."

I stood up.

"You know what? I don't need you guys _at all_. Who the hell do you think you are barging in here and telling me what to do? This is MY Silent Hill game. I might be just a teenager and... and... okay fine, I don't know what the hell I'm doing sometimes... but I can finish my own game without your help, that's for sure."

"How are you gonna defeat the final boss if there isn't anything to fight?" asked Douglas. "And how are you gonna get to Silent Hill without me?"

"Screw you, I'll walk!"

He chuckled. "It's too far to walk."

I sighed and sat back down reluctantly, then shoved Valtiel's arm. "Get away. You're the reason I started to trust monsters."

Valtiel looked like he might cry, if he had any sort of face to. I felt bad and wrapped my arm around him.

"Fine, sorry. Sheesh."

"It's fine to trust your helpful monsters," said Harry. "For a little while, at least. They'll always guide you to the truth, or in your case... drag you back to your save point because you're carrying a God."

"I voted stay," said James. "That's all I'm gonna say about it... It's still up to you."

Henry nodded.

The room became quiet and tense once again, and without the soundtrack, all I heard was the ticking clock on the wall.

"I've made my decision," Harry said at last. "Heather stays with us. And..." He folded his arms and rested back against the chair with a heavy sigh. "I can't believe I'm saying this... but I'm going to go with my first instinct. She can keep her current monsters... but no more after that. And only until the play through is completed."

I looked up feeling very much relieved, but still wondering who the hell he thought he was to call the shots like that.

He continued, "We need to look at the bigger picture now. Vincent is out of control, and we need to figure out how he did it."

They all looked thoughtful.

"Could be a fanfic..." said Henry quietly.

James shifted in his seat. "Could be... but... I'd expect more awkward uh... "encounters" with Pyr... Red Pyramid Thing, to be honest."

Henry grimaced. "True... and we'd probably all be making out over there on the floor..."

I shuddered involuntarily.

"Also, people like to make up their own one-dimensional characters and try to force them into the story," said James. "And I haven't seen anyone new around yet."

"Let's go back to the basics," said Harry quickly, looking uncomfortable. "What are we?"

"Video game characters, of course," replied Douglas tiredly.

"Right, this is a game world, an invented story. But... real enough to the fans... and sometimes people don't want it to end, you know?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "This game looks too good to be fan-made."

"I have an_ idea_ of what it could be... But I'm not sure enough... so I'll keep it to myself for now."

"Oh,_ come on_," groaned James. "We need all the information we can get. And you're the best at figuring it out, besides Douglas. You write crime novels and mysteries for God's sake."

Harry shook his head. "No, because a few things aren't adding up. This game is falling apart fast, and I'm not just talking about Vincent. There's an ulterior motive here... and I haven't gotten to the bottom of it just yet. I know we're being messed with but... if it's what I'm _thinking_... this game ___might _not have any sort of decent ending at all."

The four men looked at one another warily. I sighed and rested my head on Valtiel's shoulder.

___Double Head._

"Oh no!" I cried, jumping up. "Listen guys, don't freak out on me. I need to go get something."

Before they could react, I made a mad dash out the door and into the hallway, then jogged straight to the backdoor.

"Come, doggy thing!"

The Double Head was surprisingly still waiting there, though it must have been a few hours. I grabbed it by the scruff of its bandages and we ran back to apartment 102.

"Put away any weapons you have," I said, before entering.


	6. Chapter 6: The Textured Gray Road

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 6: The Textured Gray Road**

"This," I said, before looking up, "is my Double Head. Yes, ___mine__._"

I glanced up to see three very weirded-out protagonists, and a disturbed-looking Douglas. Valtiel seemed to be okay with it, from what I could read on his expressionless mug.

No one said anything.

I patted the panting monster on its left split head, then wandered over into the kitchen area. I opened up one of the cabinets and peeked inside. The texture work on the boxes of food looked repetitive, and the detailing wasn't too impressive up close. I saw a box of "Butter Cake"—whatever the hell that was—and opted instead for the one labeled "Cookie".

The hush continued as I walked right past them. I dragged the unbloodied armchair around to face the table and plunked down into it. I started to open the box up, and the Double Head wagged its bandaged tail stump, maybe hoping I'd be willing to share.

"Heather..." said James, sounding extremely perturbed.

"Yeah, what," I said, still trying to open the sealed plastic bag inside.

"How can you sit there and eat ___cookies_?" he demanded, with a touch of desperation.

I looked up as I crammed one into my mouth. "Hm?"

"I mean... ...won't you get fat?"

I laughed. "What? It's just a couple of cookies." I tossed one into the air and the Double Head caught it in one of its mouths.

It was Henry's turn. "Jasper drinks the Chocolate milk... and he looks pretty thin. Uh, but... he hasn't yet since I still have it in my inventory."

Harry just scowled. "A protagonist must never eat food. We only consume Health drinks, and we only use Ampoules and First aid kits."

"Fine, fine," I said. "I was just hungry after all that running around. Thirsty, too... Hey, can I have your Chocolate milk, Henry?"

Henry looked confused. "But it's for Jasper..."

Harry sighed and rested his chin on his hand. "This is not good. We need to end this game as soon as we can."

Douglas shrugged at him. "To beat the game, God has to die."

"What if I just use the Aglaophotis locket?" I asked. "Then I can ralph it up, and someone can step on it."

"I don't think it'll be that easy," said James. "It would be too anticlimactic. The game would probably just continue from the last save. I think we're gonna have to face Vincent somehow."

"But I dunno where he is." I sighed. "He's _supposed_ to meet Douglas out front after the scene in here, but he's been doing his own thing, so..."

"I know where he is," said Douglas. "He's probably still hanging out over in the final level behind Lakeside Amusement Park but..."

"But what?" asked Harry, who seemed to be interested by the name.

"You're not gonna believe this... It's not Lakeside Amusement Park anymore... It's Lakeside Amusement Park & Casino."

I spat out the first swig of the Chocolate milk Henry had graciously handed to me. "WHAT!?"

___God._

Valtiel reached out to hold my hand again, but I felt my innards cramping up worse than ever before, and I knew I was gonna lose my cookies this time around.

"Guys, I'm gonna hurl," I choked, before pressing a hand firmly over my mouth.

"See, that's what you get for eating food," quipped James.

I stumbled towards the door to my bedroom, trying to make a run for the bathroom inside. I didn't make it in time and fell forward just after the loading screen, then wound up upchucking all over the floor. It looked pretty gross and low res, but there wasn't a little God in there anywhere. I groaned and staggered into the bathroom to rinse out my mouth. The faucet worked, which was downright astounding, and blood wasn't even coming up from the sink drain (though I had mixed feelings about that).

I loaded back into the living room, still heaving a little. Valtiel and the Double Head were waiting just outside the door, and Valtiel started to push past me. I grabbed his arm and shook my head disappointedly, but he seemed to relax.

"I'm okay now, I think," I mumbled, before falling back down into the chair cushion.

"I'm afraid this is only going to get worse," said Harry, shaking his head. "Vincent must be stopped... and we need to decide who's going to confront him."

"Me, of course." I sighed. "I'm the main character. If he's the bad guy, I'll just go kill him."

The room became tense once again.

"Kill him?" asked Douglas. "You're going to kill Vincent?"

"Sure, why not? It's kinda something I've always wanted to do. He's a total rat bastard... Besides, Claudia pokes him full of holes near the end of the game anyway."

"But you're not meant to kill anyone, except Monster Leonard, and since he doesn't exist outside of the Nightmare Hospital... I mean c'mon, Heather. You can't just go bumping off important characters."

"What about all those times I went bad and stabbed you?"

"It's just an ending, it doesn't count," he argued. "And you never even get to see what happens."

"I killed Mary outside of the game, but I did have to fight Eddie," pointed out James. "Only because he started it, though... and Harry killed Puppet Cybil... and Henry fought Ghost Walter."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. You see, those are perfect examples. You can't just knife someone in the back because they deserve it... They either have to attack you first, or turn into a monster. It's tradition."

Henry leaned forward. "But in Downpou—"

"Screw 'tradition'!" I yelled. "If you haven't noticed _nothing_ is normal around here. Hell, you guys can even tag along if you want, as long as I'm the one who takes care of Vincent." I cycled through my inventory slots for the first time in a while. I had some handgun ammo, a tiny bit of shotgun ammo, my switchblade knife and fairy pipes, and of course, the katana. "What've you all got?"

I watched them zone out into their menu screens, except for Harry.

"My broken wine bottle and um... steel pipe... and one Nutrition drink." said Henry, looking a bit dazed.

"I've got this 'Simple Works' memo on me for some reason, but I don't have any weapons or items," said James. "I'm still channeling through Dead Harry. But by God do I miss my chainsaw. Really love that thing."

I looked over at Douglas. "You?"

He frowned thoughtfully. "I have my gun... but I don't know if it actually shoots."

___I knew it. _I hid a smile.

Harry looked too inept to me, so I didn't bother asking.

"How do we get there again?" asked James.

"I drive," replied Douglas.

"Are we really all going? I guess we should. It just feels... wrong. But the numbers might give us an advantage."

"Either we all go to Silent Hill, or Heather goes alone," said Harry. "If we're going to break such a rule, we should go all or nothing. That's how I feel, and even then... I still think I should stay away."

"Why?" I asked, but he ignored the question.

"I'll help you confront Vincent, but I'll have no part in killing him," he replied, then pulled away from the table and stood up. "I'll find my own way there." I watched him turn and walk to the front door, thinking it strange he just disappeared as the camera angle moved out of view momentarily.

"What's with him," I huffed.

James looked over at me. "Heather, you've got to understand something about Harry... He's a bit of an outcast. Not in a bad way... He's just different from us."

"Why, 'cause he's only on the Playstation?"

Douglas nodded. "Yeah... well, that, and the only way they stuck his character into the sequel was by killing him off... He probably feels bad about it."

James folded his arms and sat back in his chair. "Most people would say 2 and 3 are the best in the series, so you can see why Harry might feel alienated from us next gen characters. A ton of people haven't even played Silent Hill... It's not easy to get unless you emulate it."

We then all looked over at Henry, including the monsters.

He rubbed the back of his head, leaning back in his chair. "Uh, my game takes a lot of heat for being ___different_... but it's still a Team Silent game..."

"Well _I _like your game, Henry," I declared. "No matter _how_ weird it is."

He gave me a shy half-smile, then looked down at his hands.

I pulled myself up from the armchair. "I'm going to Silent Hill, and I'm gonna bust some heads. At least Vincent's... He has some serious explaining to do, and no matter what, he's finished."

I reached over to fist bump Valtiel. "If I die there, you know what to do." He nodded and crawled off out of view. I turned back to everyone else. "I don't know what kind of hell isn't waiting for me there, since the Nightmare World is gone... But I hope we can figure this out make things right again."

The two leftover protagonists got up from their seats, and Douglas went for the door. "I'll bring the car around back. Come by when you've finished saving your game."

James, Henry, the monster and I trotted down the hallway to the glowing Halo of the Sun. I placed both hands to the side of it and peered in. Once again, my saved data must have gotten corrupted, because it was mysteriously missing.

I tilted my head back. "Dammit."

"What's the matter?" asked James. "Don't you know how to save your game?"

"Oh, I know how to save all right, but the last time my data didn't take or something. And it's getting harder to concentrate."

"Maybe it's because of Vincent..." said Henry, looking wary.

I heaved a sigh. "Give me a sec. I can do this."

"Just relax and let the weird feeling grope around inside your skull," said James.

"Yeah, yeah..." I stared for a while, and my reflection began to look blurry.

___Come on, just work already._

The door to the left of us opened with a slight squeak, and Douglas popped his head in. "What's taking so long?" he asked. "We should get a move on."

"Her save point's acting weird," replied James. "It wiped out her old save and won't imprint a new one."

"Really? Huh, that's interesting..." he said, and he pulled out his gun. "Maybe if I kill her we can end this right now."

Henry, James, and the Double Head nearly knocked me off of my feet as they jumped up to block me from view.

"Now hold the hell on!" yelled James. "You can't do that!"

Douglas chuckled. "I was just joking... My gun doesn't even work." To prove the point, he dry fired it up at the ceiling a few times. It didn't even click.

I rolled my eyes. "I always figured that was the case. Ya know Douglas, aside from the lift to Silent Hill, you're a pretty useless character."

"I know, it's that whole 'Hanged Man' theme they got going," he said, tucking his toy gun away. "Gimme a break, I'm trying to be as helpful as I can."

Henry and James seemed to calm down, and the Double Head joined my side once again. The five of us walked outside to the car.

"Uh, this feels important. Symbolic, really..." said James slowly. "Who rides in which seat?"

Douglas hopped into the driver's side. "Just pick, but Heather's normally shotgun."

I climbed into the passenger side using an animation I didn't know I had. "Just get in back you two, and my Double Head can sit in between."

James and Henry looked at each other, then down at the monster with disgust. They reluctantly climbed in back, and sat smushed into the side doors as far away from the Double Head as they could.

"I've never ridden in a car before..." said Henry nervously.

"I always drive mine off screen when I gun it into the lake," said James. "So this is a first for me as well."

We hadn't gotten too far, when suddenly it started raining.

"Heather, you're quiet," said Douglas, as he switched on the wiper blades. "Are you sleeping?"

"I'm awake, even though I don't wanna be," I replied.

"Are you cold?"

"Yeah, a little. But mostly I just have this pounding headache... and I still feel kinda sick."

"Carsick?"

"I warned you to stop eating those cookies," James piped up from the back.

"Try focusing on the horizon..." Henry suggested.

"What horizon," I groaned. "All I see are trees and raindrop textures."

"These are really neat, actually. I think this game looks a lot better than mine..."

"It's like the more screwed up my game gets, the worse I feel. Especially since my phone was taken away." I covered my eyes with one hand and leaned against the door panel.

"Well sorry, but that thing wasn't doing you any favors," said Douglas. "I'm pretty sure Vincent was using it to keep tabs on you. It's a good thing that it's gone."

"I don't know if I can get through the rest of this game feeling so bad," I admitted.

The Double Head whined softly.

"Just do your best, and we'll step in if you need help," said James, leaning forward and patting my shoulder confidently.

"James..."

"Yes?"

"My dad's really just your retextured dead character model?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's kinda odd... don't you think?"

Douglas glanced over in my direction. "You know I'm supposed to be your replacement father figure... it's so people don't feel as sorry for you."

I frowned as I gazed over at my reflection in the side view mirror, not sure of what to say to any of them.

"It's best not to think about these types of things, you know," said James. "I don't want to actually feel _bad_ for what I did to my wife. I might just go crazy."

"But you are crazy..." said Henry gently. "And your father isn't wrapped too tight himself..."

"Is that right? I've never met him."

I sighed and kept my eyes closed for the rest of the road trip.

My head was killing me.


	7. Chapter 7: Not Together in the Town

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 7: Not Together in the Town**

Silent Hill was still foggy and forsaken.

All four of us (and the monster) breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the loading screen cleared. Douglas rolled the car up to Jacks Inn and we climbed out. Strangely enough, there was a vehicle already parked inside, lined up perfectly within a space.

A red and white Jeep Wrangler, in pristine FMV condition.

"Whoa..." muttered James, ambling over to it.

"Harry's...?" Henry began, but he soon trailed off. It obviously had to be.

"I can't believe it! Wow, Harry Mason's Jeep! I always thought it was too banged up to drive!" exclaimed James, sounding just a little too star-struck.

Douglas just stood there with the Double Head and I. We all looked at each other.

"C'mon, James..." said Douglas, stepping forward. "He's probably in 106. It's the only door that opens."

James and Henry were circling the vehicle now, like a pair of hungry sharks. Stopping now and again to peer inside. "I kinda wanna... sit in it," said Henry, as he reached for the passenger side door handle.

"Wait... I don't think we should," said James, seemingly recovered from his initial fangasm. He turned to me and Douglas. "This really shouldn't be here, should it?"

I shrugged, but Douglas spoke up. "I don't think so," he said. "I hope Harry's okay... you'd think he'd be above the game's influence."

"Well, he _should_ be. But maybe the longer he stays here..."

I marched up and pried open the Jeep's passenger door, knocking Henry out of the way. I then climbed up into the seat. "Check it out guys, I'm Cheryl!" I reached over and almost pushed down on the horn, but I stopped myself just in time. I imagined Harry sticking his head out of the door and yelling at me to get out.

James crossed his arms and turned towards the motel door. "Knock it off, Heather. Let's go see what's going on inside."

I pouted and reluctantly climbed back down, resisting an urge to disappear into the thick fog just outside of the immediate area.

We filed into the motel room one at a time and looked around. Harry was inside, sitting in a chair by the desk between the two made up beds. He had some sort of flimsy book in his hands, and he was thumbing through it.

"What'cha got there, Harry?" asked Douglas, walking over.

"Just the official strategy guide," he replied. "I wasn't completely sure how to find this place... it doesn't look like ___my _Silent Hill at all." He tucked the book away into the side of his brown jacket.

"Where'd you find that?" asked James, looking a bit nervous. "It's a Real World item, isn't it?"

"I just picked it up as a memo somewhere," answered Harry. "It doesn't matter."

He continued, "At any rate, it won't be of much help now. From here most of the game takes place in the Nightmare World, so things will undoubtedly be... different."

"Screwed up, yeah," I said, "and I know it's my fault, okay?"

"It's Claudia's fault, Heather," he replied unexpectedly. "She never recited the lines correctly. Really, it's Vincent's fault. You can't go blaming this all on yourself."

The others nodded as they shifted their gazes in my direction, and I started to feel better. I guess I hadn't expected Harry to be so reasonable. I decided I might be able to cut him some slack after all.

"I have the strangest feeling right now..." said James.

"Me too," I said, then realized they were probably all feeling the same. "We've gotta split up!"

Douglas scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm feeling it too," he said. "We should all part ways and search the area."

"But... we know where Vincent is..." said Henry.

"Leonard's phone voice might still be inside of Normal Brookhaven... I guess I'll go check and see if it is."

"But that's the opposite of what we should be doing," I argued. "I go to the Hospital, and you end up in Lakeside Amusement Park!"

"...& Casino," he finished.

A twinge of nausea hit me again, and I had to take a seat on the edge of the bed.

"If I can convince Leonard to call Claudia up and abuse her over the phone, she might start wanting Paradise again. I've been thinking about this for a while, and it might just work."

"That's a good start," said Harry. "I guess I'll come with you... It's going to be dark in there and you'll need a flashlight." He got up out of his seat and turned to the rest of us. "The rest of you cross through the Park and wait for us before the Church level."

I was about to raise an argument about Douglas's ineptitude, but suddenly realized that was the reason Harry would be joining him. Harry was just being diplomatic about it.

"I'll head over there from the Lakeview Hotel," said James. "But I feel like I can't cross Nathan Avenue the normal way... I'm gonna go see if the boat is there."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're gonna row a boat across that huge lake?"

"Yeah, so? I usually make good time. Even on Hard difficulty."

"This isn't Silent Hill 2, James," I sighed. "Whatever, I'm sure you'll get there somehow."

Douglas and Harry left, and James followed a moment or so later. I watched as they disappeared into their loading screens.

I looked down at my Double Head.

Then I looked at Henry, and he stared awkwardly back.

"This feels like some kinda fan service," I muttered.

He nodded slowly.

"Look, Henry... I know a lot of fangirls think you're a super hottie, but I'm, uh... not... like them... We're main characters in the Silent Hill series. We're..." I realized I was rambling, and then felt my cheeks growing a tad warmer than usual.

"Just... go to the Amusement Park, okay?" I pointed over to the door.

"Will do..." he mumbled, making his way over to it.

"I mean I like you and all! But I'm not some escort mission!" I yelled, just before he loaded outside.

I flopped back on the bed and looked over at the Double Head. "Whew. Got rid of 'em all."

The Double Head arfed a happy arf.

"I guess we'll find a way to that uh... Park. I hope I don't have a breakdown when I see it looking so weird." The Double Head hopped up on the bed beside me with with a short supportive howl. I reached over to pat its sticky bandaged side.

"I'm really tired... but we should get going."

The bright lamp on the desk was hurting my eyes and making my headache worse. I switched it off and rested my arm over my head, if only for a minute. But then I did something no self-respecting protagonist would ever do in the middle of a game.

I fell asleep. On my own.

I dreamed...

About the missing Nightmare World... and other things.

...

_"I fear Her... and I adore Her._

_But I haven't lost my mind like you."_

Barely conscious, I groaned and felt my head try to turn away to the side.

_Anything_ but him.

...

_"...__Strength must overcome petty desire. Childish sleep talk..."_

_What are you talking about?_

_..._

I lifted my forearm up from over my eyes and sat up slowly. It was too dark to see anything. I reached down and turned on my flashlight, then saw the Double Head cuddled up next to me.

"Oh. Crap." I said, rubbing my head. I was groggy as hell. The creature squinted in the sudden light as it lifted its heads. I jumped up and off of the bed, in a panicked hurry. "Come!" I yelled, already making a break for the door.

___Not good. Not good._

We loaded out into the motel's parking lot. The Jeep and Douglas's Chrysler LeBaron were still parked there, and I should've known Harry would have wanted to hoof it to Brookhaven the old fashioned way. The monster and I jogged out into the street side by side and I looked down at it. "Why didn't you wake me up," I whined. It panted and gave a soft howl of embarrassment as we made the turn up Munson towards Rosewater Park.

The streets were dark, and some of the fog had lifted—probably due to graphical limitations—but being out in the open air of Silent Hill seemed to be clearing my head just a little. I started to feel better as we ran along. I still missed the Nightmare World, and still felt fuzzy and weird, but seeing it so _normal looking _was doing wonders for me.

I paused and leaned forward to catch my breath, and the chilly air reminded me of the smell of snow. I then heard a mournful howl from somewhere far off, followed by a howling reply a few seconds later.

_Double Heads._

I smiled to myself, then got a move on.

"I wonder what happened to everyone," I said, as we sped up to the pace of roughly a power walk. "They couldn't have offed Vincent without me... wouldn't the game have ended?"

My monster looked at me quizzically, like it wasn't sure what to howl.

_"It's a bit far... but closer than heaven!"_

Vincent's scripted line repeated sarcastically in my head as we approached Nathan Avenue, then took a left to run along it for some stretch of miles. Though it had gotten dark, I briefly thought Maria could possibly be waiting at the lookout over in Rosewater. I had to remind myself that it wasn't the right game.

It was all starting to run together.

I felt pretty bad we wouldn't get to see the Texxon Gas Station and Heaven's Night, and worst of all: the Hospital. I'd been looking forward to watching Lisa's home movie on the Seal of Metatron, and seeing the Session 9 wheelchair. I was _really_ bummed that we'd miss out on seeing Memory of Alessa in the 3F storeroom mirror and the boss fight with Monster Leonard. I then realized I hadn't actually killed anything since the game started. I wondered how badly my ranking would be affected, and if I might get a few bonus stars for not having saved at all, since the data had disappeared.

_Why the hell do I still care about all of that?_

Suddenly, I understood that I really didn't. I just missed the Nightmare World so much, and the absentee monsters and bosses. I might have even gladly been killed by them, if it meant bringing back my old game. The strangest feelings were coming over me now, and I almost stopped dead in my tracks.

I just wanted it all_ back_.

I looked up and noticed movement in my flashlight's beam. The Double Head was running circles around me, urging me to keep going. I hastened back up to a steady jog.

I began to wonder if Douglas and Harry had convinced Leonard's disembodied phone voice to piss Claudia off enough to change her ways. I wondered if saying the lines would really fix everything once and for all. _Then_ I wondered if it was already too late to manifest enough of a Godboss to beat the game.

_The one who will lead us to Paradise with blood-stained hands._

I wondered a lot of things.

And then I hit a loading screen.

...

Something was off.

I looked around. We weren't on Nathan Avenue anymore, but we hadn't made it all the way to Lakeside Amusement Park (& Casino). We wandered down the darkened road for quite a while, then made a right turn onto a scenic path. The grass was cut and well taken care of, and the hedges were trimmed back neatly, though as we continued on, it started to look like someone had taken a flamethrower to them.

_Weird..._

We almost bumped right into a metal gate, blocking the way between some more burnt hedges. It wouldn't swing open, so I shoved my Double Head's large bandaged up butt over the side, then went to climb over it. We kept walking, passing a scorched ornate fountain, then turned right again. I lead the way down a set of blackened stone steps as we followed the flashlight's beam. A solid stretch of well-textured pier was built there, and the tallest lamppost had been left on, towards the small dock.

___Someone _was sitting beneath it. A fit young guy with tousled brown hair wearing a light long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

"Henry?" I yelled over to him. He looked pretty out of it, and his head remained tilted down.

The Double Head and I came bounding up, and I bent down to poke him a few times. "Henry, snap out of it!"

He looked up at me slowly. "... Hi, Heather."

"Where are we? Have you seen anybody else around here?" I crouched beside him and smoothed his hair down. "Are you feeling alright?"

He shook his head and blinked sleepily. "I'm okay," he said. Then a strange look crept over his face as he looked at me. Like something was troubling him.

"What?" I asked, glancing around us. "Oh..."

He was cycling through his on screen inventory slots now, probably looking for a weapon to equip.

"Henry, relax. I'm not on Walter's hit list or anything. Chill out."

"Oh yeah..." he said, but I could tell he was still a bit worried.

A soft knocking and splashing sound was looping nearby, and we both peeked over the edge. A rowboat was there, with two paddles locked into it.

"James..." we both whispered, then exchanged concerned glances. All three of us turned to look up, and I pointed my flashlight beam towards the infamous Lakeview Hotel. The place hadn't changed at all since the end of Silent Hill 2, so it was pretty burned down and crappy looking.

I cupped both hands to to sides of my mouth. "JAMES?!" Then I nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard a loud_ THUMP!_ behind us. My heart was pounding as I pointed my light in the direction of the sound, but I was relieved when I saw that it was only a hand.

___Oh, thank God..._

The hand clawed up onto the wooden planks, followed by a soaked dark green sleeve. Henry got up and walked over, then crouched down to help the person up onto the dock.

"Th-thanks..." choked a familiar voice. It was James, but he sounded completely exhausted.

"James, what the hell were you doing?" I asked. He was on his hands and knees now, hacking up some of Toluca's finest lake sludge.

"Did you fall out of the boat?" asked Henry.

He finally looked up at us. "What b-boat?" he said. "I had to swi... swim." His teeth were chattering, though his clothes were already starting to look dry.

I stomped up and pointed over the side. "That boat! You mean it wasn't over by the loading dock? I can't believe you took a dip in Toluca Lake... God, what was it like in there?"

He shuddered and heaved one last time. "You... don't wanna know what's down there."

"Did ya see the _Little Baroness_?" I asked, suddenly fascinated. "Or the sixty-seven people who died of illness they chucked in there? What about the bony fingered—"

"I'd rather not say," he interrupted, looking more than a little afraid.

I decided to drop it, since he looked so genuinely flipped out, but the curiosity was killing me.


	8. Chapter 8: Silent Hill: Ruination

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 8: Silent Hill: Ruination**

Silent Hill's famous Lakeside Amusement Park lay before us, just over the next loading screen.

I was stalling like crazy.

"It's probably going to be bad..." argued James, "But at least you still have us. For moral support, ya know?"

My hands were shaking. I quickly jammed them into my pockets. "You guys don't get it... This place... it's _always i_n Nightmare Mode. When I step in a few feet, it changes right away."

Henry looked thoughtful, but said nothing.

"I'm gonna have a meltdown... I can feel it. As soon as I see those bright happy lights..."

The Double Head was sitting next to me. It pawed encouragingly at my right leg.

"Arf!"

I reached down to stroke a patch of its filthy fur and sighed. "I'm going... but I hate this goddammit! I want Memory of Alessa back!" I marched forward and shut my eyes tightly as the screen went dark. I loaded in facing backwards with my hands over my eyes and waited for the others. Soon, I heard them shifting around me.

"W-what..." James stammered. "My _God._ Who could've..."

"Vincent..." Henry muttered. He sounded about as angry as I'd ever heard him.

I turned around and lowered my hands, and instantly wished I hadn't. The walls were gone, the space had been opened, and the place was fully lit for the nighttime shift. Several of the rides could be heard running by themselves, and generic carnival music was sounding off from somewhere far away.

The whole place was altogether too clean.

My head was aching mercilessly once again. I leaned forward, trying hard not to pass out, and when I finally looked up, I noticed the sign.

**Lakeside Amusement Park**

**.********.. & Casino!**

___I'm gonna kill him._

I stomped forward angrily. "This doesn't even look like a freaking Silent Hill game anymore!" I yelled. "REALLY, Vincent?! Fu..." my voice withered away before a true f-bomb was dropped, but I came close.

The others looked too afraid to enter fully. "This is messed up," James said quietly.

I was trembling visibly now as I switched off my useless flashlight. "Come on. We're gonna get to the bottom of this right now. I don't care what happens." I grabbed both of their arms and pulled them forward. They were still too stunned to move.

"COME ON!"

We passed through the area together with a great deal of reluctance. I didn't have a map of the level, but the layout looked _almost_ the same. Plenty of new buildings had been added, and the whole park had gotten huge. Restaurants and bars, a pachinko house and a couple of arcades. A blazing red and white neon sign was flickering up ahead. SLOTS it promised, and beyond that BlackJack! Above all, a multistory sized Robbie the Rabbit statue beckoned WELCOME, but he was missing the blood stains around his grinning mouth.

I swallowed hard, trying not to barf.

The entire area was far too easy to traverse. There were no more pitfalls into the abyss, the locked gates were missing, and the paths were all laid out clear. Our boots met the ground with dull footfalls, instead of the familiar clinks and clanks of grates. There were no dead Robbie costumes to stumble over, or weird blotchy bodies locked in cages. I sighed heavily and tried not to moan and groan too much as I forced myself to keep pace with the others. It was like torture.

The Mountain Coaster was up and fully running without anyone at the switch, which was one good thing at least—the fact that the place was still abandoned. We stopped for a minute to watch it go by, and I _longed_ to be up on those tracks, to be splattered or not. I had taken it for granted so many times, but that nightmare was a part of me.

With no reason to jump away from the roller coaster and knock myself out, we took a detour off to the left. There was no wall or door, but we'd hit a winding path of sharp black fencing and phony gravestones with scattered lit up jack-o-lanterns. The attraction was no longer an obstacle, but I felt like I should take a look anyway. I glanced up at the sign dejectedly.

**The Borley Haunted Mansion**

I gave the ticket booth and save point a miss and lead everyone up to the entrance. I reached out and grabbed onto the right door handle, then pushed forward. The front door opened with a slow creak.

_"Welcome to the Borley Haunted Mansion..." _droned the voice. I tuned it out and looked around inside. "What the freaking hell," I muttered, causing the others to gather closely behind me. My Double Head peeked its heads from around my legs and sniffed curiously at the floor just inside.

I took a few seconds to count them. Eight Insane Cancers lay deflated on the floor of the entry hall, flattened out like grotesque pancakes. At first sight I was a bit nervous, but they were definitely dead. Looking at them now, I started to feel a little sad, seeing them in such a pathetic state. I allowed the others to have a good look before pulling the door shut.

"Did someone stash them in there?" I asked.

"Looks like it," replied James. "Hidden out of the way, I'd guess."

The Double Head whined and looked around nervously, and Henry stood facing the other direction, holding onto his steel pipe with both hands.

"I don't think we need to be afraid of monsters anymore, guys," I said. "I'm assuming this is more of Vincent's work, though I have no idea how he did it."

Henry lowered his weapon back into one hand, but he still appeared anxious. "It's Vincent I'm worried about..."

"Vincent knows better than to attack me. He's a wuss... and besides, he doesn't like getting all 'hot and sweaty.' His words, not mine."

_... So how did he kill these monsters?_

I was afraid of what the answer might be, and quickly pushed the thought out of my mind.

We made our way back to the Park's main route, then continued up along the brightly lit path towards the sound of the humming engines. Vincent had fixed the missing Pirates in Storm ride, but it looked like a cheap Disney knockoff. We crossed the bridge above it and loaded into the next area. To our left was The Star Travel coaster, running for the first time ever. A few more new rides with weird names were off to our right and up ahead, but moving beyond them we soon recognized the Tea Cups and Swing Rocket. Each ride had a different set of music, and hearing them all at once was super annoying. I covered my ears as we walked closer. My head was pounding relentlessly and the dizziness made it damn near impossible to walk in a straight line.

The Magic Ice Cream House sat forlornly nearby, looking absolutely ordinary without its usual hellish surroundings. As we moved over to it, I noticed that the old memo was still there. Harry's notes from Silent Hill.

___Dad..._

I sighed inwardly, remembering what Harry had told me. The scribbled note served only a painful reminder. I dropped the notepad without reading it, trying not to look too depressed in front of everyone.

The Happy Carousel grinded itself to a halt, awaiting a stream of riders that would never come. I almost broke down when I saw it. The brightly painted horses were frozen in place. No twitching, or neighing, or the spewing forth of their toxic equine breath. I hung my head and tried hard not to tear up.

___I'm so sorry Memory of Alessa._

It felt like I'd let her down.

We climbed up onto the empty carousel and I slid down into a sit on the spot where her message would have been scrawled. I could still remember how it went:

_It would be better for "myself" to die._

_After all, it's nothing to be afraid of..._

_That child... that demon..._

_When I think of the endless pain it will bring when it is birthed..._

_I decided that, instead of the suffering and cruelty I endured in that sick room..._

_That I would like to bestow a more gentle and peaceful death on "myself"._

_Why do "I" resist? I never thought of "myself" as such a fool..._

I bit my lip and buried my face down into my arms, unsure of what to think. The Double Head plopped down next to me on lookout. James and Henry were wandering nearby, examining the carousel horses.

"Where's that go?" asked James, pointing ahead of me to the wooden door buried deep in the wall. "Is that the door to the next level?"

I nodded.

"The Church?"

I nodded again.

Henry stepped over to us with the steel pipe still gripped in his hand. "Aren't Harry and Douglas supposed to meet us here...?"

I nodded a third time, still too bummed out to say anything. The raging headache wasn't making things any easier. After several quiet minutes, I dragged myself up to a standing position. "That's the final level," I said, "and seeing _it_ screwed up... I don't know..." I staggered forward towards the door, holding on to the back of my monster for support. James and Henry followed cautiously.

My right hand grasped the doorknob and wrenched it open. We loaded in. A long stretch of passageway was up ahead, though it looked the same way it should have. My headache eased up ever so slightly as we walked through single file, ignoring the religious graffiti painted on the walls. Finally, we reached the short staircase and door at the end of the tunnel.

More graffiti on the door. This time, unavoidable:

_This door is the gate which leads to the Road of Paradise._

_Embrace the bosom of the Holy Mother. Admit your sins and be forgiven. Eternal Tranquility can be yours._

I grumbled a little as I turned the knob, expecting the worst. We all loaded out at the same time, and I turned my back at the last second.

"Whoa..." the two guys said in unison. I kept my eyes covered and my back turned. "How bad is it?" I whispered.

James and Henry grabbed my shoulders and spun me around so quickly, the sudden movement nearly made me puke on the spot. I gagged and coughed, still covering my eyes. "Heather, look!" said James.

I allowed a quick peek between my fingers, but my hands quickly dropped to the sides.

"Oh... my God."

The Chapel was absolutely gorgeous. Something important was missing, rather ___somebody, _but it was very nearly perfect.

The large room had been left seemingly untouched by Vincent, or perhaps this was how he preferred it. The rows of church pews were all in place, the religious paintings were all there and intact. The altar and stained glass windows were softly lit from behind, and the light fixtures above cast just enough light. Flickering candles threw shadows along the wooden floor and the walls. I had to admit, I'd never seen it looking so good, even in 1080p.

It was all Team Silent.

Henry and James had already left to wander about the room by themselves. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as my headache let up enough so that I could walk straight. My monster followed closely as I stepped forward with cautious optimism, taking in the familiar sights. The place was built to be oppressive, and the air in the room felt a bit heavy, but I found that it didn't really bother me at all.

"So Vincent might still be a priest," said James, admiring one of Masahiro Ito's mythos paintings.

_But there God's strength ran out, and She collapsed. _

_All the world's people grieved this unfortunate event, yet God __breathed Her last. _

_She returned to the dust, promising to come again._

"Of course he is," I replied. "It's perfectly in character for him to be a greedy jerk, so maybe... I guess I can see why he made the casino. It's just not very cultish. Too blatant... Maybe he only did it to piss us off."

"He did a good job there..." muttered Henry.

"He's always been annoying, but... not like this," I said. "See, this is what happens when you give an antagonist free range. They go nuts."

James nodded knowingly.

We joined back together in the center of the room. "I guess Douglas and Harry are still back at Brookhaven," said James. "What should we do now?"

"Hopefully they managed to convince Leonard's voice to give Claudia a call," I replied. "I normally run into her here, before she slips away. She lives here in the Church, you know. And I remember where her bedroom is in this place."

I looked over at the door to the right of the altar, the back at the door we'd entered, feeling torn. The Double Head nudged one of its faces gently into the side of my leg, urging me forward.

_The monsters need me._

I ran through my inventory and selected my katana, then raised it up defiantly. "We've gotta get moving guys. The series is depending on us. We can't let him screw with our environments or our monsters anymore."

Henry and James smiled at each other and I started to feel a bit self-conscious, but Henry raised his steel pipe, and James dug through his pockets briefly before looking disappointed.

"For Silent Hill," said Henry, with a sheepish grin.

"For Silent Hill," James grinned too, though quite uncharacteristically.

"For the monsters," I said, as Henry and I clinked our weapons. I sprinted over to the right side door and pulled it open with a_ slam! _feeling better than I had in a long time.

The black screen cleared, and I rubbed my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. The walls and floors looked a little too clean for my taste, and the lighting may have been set too bright. I walked over and pulled hard on the door to the confessional, curious to see if I could somehow get inside on this play through.

"I forgot... What happens here again?" asked James.

"It affects the ending," I replied. "Some woman's in there crying, and you can 'Say nothing' to leave her hanging, or you can 'Forgive' and she shuts up."

"How does it affect the ending?" asked Henry.

"Forgiving her increases your chance of getting the Possessed one," I said. "But since I haven't killed a single thing yet, it's not going to do anything."

"Oh yeah. The one where you knife Douglas off screen," remarked James.

"Yep, but he's not even at the Park right now... so uh..." I pried open the door next to the confessional to hear the disembodied voice of the woman bawling her eyes out. "I forgive you!" I yelled, and slammed the door shut.

Henry once again looked thoughtful and withdrawn, and James and the Double Head were looking down the hallway ahead.

"Which way to Claudia's room?" asked James.

"This level is pretty linear, with only one big back track," I said. "Just go with it."

We strutted down the hallway confidently, keeping an eye out for any potential danger. The Brass key door was locked up as usual, so we gave it a pass. The next room up on the left held several chairs and a whiteboard. Probably some sort of conference room for the cult crazies. A single Closer was chilling out in the far corner. I gave it a quick salute as we passed, and shot Henry a "just don't" look once I caught him powering up an attack. He lowered his steel pipe again, looking rather taken aback.

Down the tidy hallways we continued, and the layout was pretty much the same. The length of hallway was decorated with more religious paintings of heavenly angels, quite a few I'd never seen before. An unlocked door was to our left on the north side. I opened it and lead the way in.

It was the Church Belfry. A massive glowing Halo of the Sun was painted on the floor, and the paintings of the three saints were hung up on the wall surrounding it. I had already examined them thousands of times and knew all of them by heart, but James and Henry seemed to be eager to check them out. Instead I knelt down before the over-sized save point and tried as hard as I could to save my progress.

It wasn't happening.

"Saint Jennifer..." said James slowly. "Like that statue in Rosewater Park."

_St. Jennifer: Unwavering Faith Under Death's Blade_

"Saint Alessa..." murmured Henry. "Heather?"

_St. Alessa: Mother of God, Daughter of God_

"That's me," I replied. "I'm the one holding the baby... and the baby being held. As the 'Holy One'. It's just an old Silent Hill throwback."

"Ah... I understand..."

"What about that guy?" asked James, pointing over at the Saint Nicholas painting.

_St. Nicholas: Miraculous Hands, a Doctor of God_

"Well, the cult's based off of a ton of different religions," I said. "I guess Team Silent felt like throwing in some extra Catholicism. Who knows, maybe it's just a Santa Claus joke. I'd look it up if..." I frowned. "...if I still had my phone on me."

James seemed to want to change the subject. "Alessa, huh. Hey, what's it like being a saint in the cult? Must be pretty weird. I guess it makes sense since you're the most important character in the series."

"It's all well and good until somebody makes a crappy movie with an even crappier sequel," I replied, standing back up. "Anyway, this save point's broken too. Let's just keep going."


	9. Chapter 9: The High Princess

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 9: The High Princess**

The Belfry room was a dead end, so we returned to the angel painting hallway. I listened for the audio of the crying little girl and looked around for the tiny footprints, but this wasn't the Nightmare Church. Temporarily stuck, James and Henry waited patiently nearby while I poked around for a clue about what to do next.

My ever helpful monster was sniffing the floor beneath one of the paintings, and soon it had leapt up onto the canvass, pawing and clawing and whining incessantly.

"No, doggy thing. I don't think that's the right one. It's way too small." I pointed at the more familiar angelic painting where the hidden door should have been. I'd shoved it aside and found only a bare wall.

The Double Head's whines grew higher in pitch and annoyance until I finally wandered over. "Alright, alright, let me take a look." I grasped both sides of the picture frame and pulled to the right. It wouldn't budge that way, so I tried left. It then slid rather easily, as if on a mechanism. Behind it was a small key and a folded note scotch-taped haphazardly to the wall. I grabbed the key first and examined it.

_This was the old model for my room key._

It was the Brass key from the butterfly display in my old bedroom. I went ahead and tore the paper off the wall, then unfolded it with an annoyed sigh.

___Hiding things can be fun, but I'm not hiding from you._ read the unsigned note, but I assumed it was from Vincent. The handwriting looked similar to the scribbling on the back of the ___Find the Holy One. Kill her? _photograph.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, after having read it aloud to the party. "And he should be hiding... 'cause I'm gonna kick his ass as soon as I see him."

Henry looked amused and James pointed back over his shoulder. "So that key unlocks the door we passed earlier?"

"Uh-huh, and it's cheating big time. This key belongs in Alessa's—well, ___my _old room. So we've basically skipped past most of the level. I have a bad feeling about this..."

The Double Head and I traced our steps back to the conference room with the two men in tow. I had an odd feeling just before I opened the door—maybe some leftover psychic powers. Inside we found all of the furniture in place, and no signs of a struggle, but the Closer had collapsed in a heap. Dead.

I sighed heavily as I slowly walked over to the monster, then crouched down beside it. "This is... pissing me off. Seriously. Finding them dead like this. It's like..."

"Like someone's doing your job for you?" asked James.

My shoulders sagged. "No... I guess you two wouldn't understand." I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I gave my Double Head a quick pat and moved over to the door.

Down the corridor we continued until we bumped into the locked door. The Brass key fit the lock with no trouble, and I paused before entering. "Should we wait up for my da— Harry and Douglas?"

"I've been worried about them..." said Henry quietly. "Did Harry even have any weapons in his inventory?"

"I dunno," replied James. "Depends on where he was in the game when I summoned him... I guess at worst he'd have his handgun."

"There are still plenty of Nurses in Normal Brookhaven," I said. "But hey, he's probably got his steel pipe at least if he runs low on ammo. It's in that alley before the Wizard of Oz keys quest."

The idea of Harry killing ___my _Nurses should have pushed all my buttons in the _worst_ way, but strangely... I felt okay about it.

___Maybe something is wrong with me _I thought, looking down. I examined my own hands carefully, turning them over and back. My orange wristbands and watch... my skin texture... everything _looked_ normal.

___Am I really...?_

"Heather?" It was Henry.

I startled, then shook it off as nonchalantly as I could. "Ah-yup. Let's go through this door here," I said, turning the doorknob clockwise. "See ya on the ___otherside__!_"

"Heather..." said James gently. "Wait a minute."

"What?" I huffed. "Let's just get this over with, no matter how weird it gets."

"Were you thinking about Harry?"

"No," I replied sharply, "and I'm not worried about him either. If anything, I'd be worried about Douglas." I was lying, but they couldn't tell.

James cracked a smile at first. "Heh, yeah." He paused, then continued, "I was just thinking how hard this game has been on you... thought you maybe you might want to rest for a minute."

I rolled my eyes and turned around, resting a hand on my hip. "What do I look like, Maria?" I glanced over at Henry, who looked equally concerned.

"I'm designed to be tough," I scoffed, "and I'm not a child, you know. I might be fatherless for real now, but I can get through this game just fine. Hell, I still can't figure out why I decided to drag you two along. And it's creepy of you to be up in my business like this." I paused and looked back and forth between them suspiciously. "What's gotten into you guys?"

They looked at one another.

"It all feels a little too real to me..." mumbled Henry. "I guess when we return to our games, it'll go away. But I just have this terrible feeling..."

James nodded, looking back cautiously. "I feel it too... didn't wanna say anything. And worse, I almost feel like a real person at times. Then I wonder if it's really just Vincent doing this to the game. Speaking of which, I wonder what he's got in store for you, Heather... Do you think he could he actually be dangerous?"

I reached for the doorknob again. "Well, I told you. He's a coward. I don't think he's even capable of holding a weapon... and the only things that can kill me now are the monsters." I leaned forward and thumped the Double Head on its side, and it looked up at me adoringly. "And I don't see _that_ happening anytime soon."

The loading screen cleared, and we found ourselves once again in alien surroundings. A lobby of some sort, not found anywhere in the game. Six worn yellowish sofas lined the walls on either side, with end tables parked in between. There were no windows, but fluorescent light fixtures hummed overhead giving off plenty of light. A large circular desk made its home in the center of the room, decorated with a few unidentifiable leafy potted plants. It also held three dated computer monitors and an old typewriter. Above the desk on two chains hung a black cloth covered sign, like the place wasn't functional just yet. The industrial office carpet was a depressing blue-gray and the walls a shade of light gray with dark smudged corners. At least the place wasn't ___too __c_lean. It wasn't exactly un-Silent Hill-like, but it didn't feel quite right... like someone was copying the art style.

We passed the desk and moved up ahead. Off to the right was an alcove. A pair of vending machines had been placed there, but they didn't look like they'd had a chance to be plugged in. There were a few more potted plants next to them, stolen from the Mall no doubt, and a Stash Your Trash can as well.

As we continued on, the building opened wider and the ceiling had extended upward. Above, circular light fixtures cast our shadows on the dull carpet. The whole level was starting to look massive, and signs of construction were soon made apparent. Four long lit corridors stretched out before us, each branching off into its own direction. The one on the far left was blocked off with yellow tape, a wheelbarrow and some scattered debris. A single identifying character displayed overhead: the number 1. The next was marked with a 2 and clear of any obstacles. 3 and 4 were to the right of that. Each length of hallway was filled with a varying numbers of mysterious doors. The numbers were a no-brainer really, but that didn't make them any less disturbing. The whole layout was weird and reminded me of a certain prison in Philly. Though the place_ looked_ relatively harmless, it just felt... sinister.

My head had been aching for hours, but the migraine came back suddenly—and with a vengeance. It throbbed its way to the front and settled right behind my eyes. I dropped to one knee and groaned as the dizziness returned, ready to torment me for another round. I gasped and pressed a hand to the front of my chest. I felt like I might puke again sure, but my heart was racing and I felt like I couldn't breathe. The Double Head nuzzled its split heads into my side and whined softly. _What the hell_ _is this? A panic attack? _How should I know? I'd never had one before, or any reason to. I coughed and James glanced back over his shoulder warily. He and Henry had wandered ahead, and were now looking down their respective hallways curiously.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to shake it all off. I gave the monster a reassuring pat and stood back up as straight as I could manage. James walked back over to join us, followed by Henry.

"Should we split up here?" James asked. "Maybe we all fight our own bosses or something. That'd be neat, huh." He reached into his pockets once again, coming up empty. "Uh, well. Never mind."

I shook my head. "This is still Silent Hill 3. There's one final boss, and it's God. Well, just this once it's probably Vincent... and I'm going to take care of him." I then equipped my illustrious gold pipe, fully intending to cave Vincent's skull in with it.

"Fancy," mumbled Henry.

"Isn't it," I said, forcing a smile.

I lead the team down Hallway 3, holding my pipe against my shoulder and checking each door with my left hand. A brass nameplate had been drilled into the first door, engraved with my full name: Heather Mason. It was locked. "My room's in Daisy Villa," I muttered. "This can't be here." I twisted on the unturnable knob feeling irritated, and maybe a little violated too. Even my sacred place had been desecrated in this madhouse.

Oddly, Douglas Cartland must have had a room somewhere in the game too, because that's what the name on the next door said. Also locked.

Leonard Wolf as well. His opened, but there was nothing inside but a fancy wooden desk holding an old-fashioned rotary dial phone left off the hook.

The next door was marked: Equipment Room. ___The lock is broken. I can't open this door._

James tapped my shoulder. "Hey uh, do you think _Mary_ might have a room somewhere in this place?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I guess. If you wanna go check it out, feel free."

He was gone before I'd finished my sentence.

The Double Head and Henry followed me closely down the hall as I checked the rest of the doors. Audio Room. Broken locked. Corpse Storage. "Yuck," I said. Thank God that one was locked.

Father Vincent. Locked. I readied my pipe and knocked politely. No answer. I gave it a frustrated kick. "Yeah, nothing is ever _that _easy," I grumbled. Henry let out a small sigh and nodded.

Claudia Wolf.

I pressed an ear to the door and tapped softly. "Claudia?"

"It's open!" came a muffled cry, much to my surprise.

I shooed the Double Head gently aside and grabbed the doorknob. "Wait here, please," I told it, "and if you see any trouble bark like crazy, alright?" The Double Head gave an eager nod. I stepped forward into the loading screen, and Henry went with me.

The screen went dark and hung up briefly, and the first thing I noticed was a strange smell—like cigarette smoke being covered up by too much air freshener. We finally loaded in, and we were in Claudia's bedroom in the Church level, but...

"Hey, hold on a sec, I've got company," came a voice off to the side. I spun around and there she was, reclining on her bed. One leg up on top of the other, resting back on two fluffy pillows.

"C-Claudia?" I rubbed my eyes for the bazillionth time. They were starting to burn.

"I'm going to have to call you back." She was looking right over my shoulder now as she ended her phone call. "Sorry about that," she said, scooting to the edge of her carnation pink bedspread.

Her long blonde hair was now parted on the side and pulled into a side ponytail—quite out of character. She still had no eyebrows to speak of, but I could tell she had been experimenting with makeup, and a thin layer of pink gloss was shining on her lips. Her weird cultish attire was gone, but at least she was still clothed in black. She was wearing a pair of dark jeans, and her top was covered in a half buttoned-up sweater coat. I blinked hard as I lowered my gaze. She was wearing shoes for the first time that I'd ever seen. Black leather riding boots.

She looked...

...weird.

For Claudia, anyway.

"Who's your cute friend, Heather?" she asked, not looking at me at all. Her accent had faded quite a bit.

"Henry..." murmured Henry, "...and you?"

Dammit, hadn't I just said her name twice?

"Claudia," she smiled.

"Alessa," I corrected, trying not to let too much anger show through. "You're supposed to call me Alessa. And you were _supposed_ to recite your lines to me in the elevator hallway. And now we've got... issues."

I was on the floor now, taking it all in. The previously bare room was now fully furnished, and I was sitting on wall to wall purple plush carpet. There were white bookshelves, a matching vanity, and an entertainment center holding a ginormous flat screen TV. Beneath it was a stack of game cases, along with several current gen consoles and controllers. Music and movie posters were hanging on the wall straight ahead, and with them a few blurry framed photos. I turned my head to the side, shaking all over. Off to our right were three racks of expensive clothing and purses. The mountain of shoe boxes in one corner of the room _really_ set me on edge, and my heart began to pound with anxiety.

Although I had to admit, the clothes were pretty nice.

"Where's Vincent?" I demanded. "Did he do this too?"

"Oh, all this? Yeah, he gives me stuff. I think he's trying to win me over." She was leering at Henry and sauntering her way over to him. "Don't think anything of it, though... he's not my type at all."

Henry backed away a step nervously.

"Claudia, for God's sake!" I cried. "We can fix this right now if you just say the lines!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked over. "What?"

"Tell me I need to 'remember my true self', and 'that which I must become' and all that jazz. Please!" I was pleading now, probably a bit whiny as well.

She frowned as she turned to face me, but Henry seemed relieved. "That's not going to do it, I'm afraid."

___What._

"But God!"

"Heath—I mean, Alessa, it's _your_ fault there will be no God. You haven't been leading us to Paradise with blood-stained hands."

___WHAT?!_

"Wha..." I stood up angrily. "This isn't_ my_ fault! It was _your_ damned script problem."

She shook her head. "You already know your true self, so it wouldn't matter if I said the lines." She let out a bored sigh. "And you should know that in order to grow God within you that you have to give and receive pain. You have to kill monsters, you have to feel pain. Pain_ and_ hatred. On that end, I'll admit _some_ fault, but really... we don't need God."

"WE NEED GOD, CLAUDIA!" I shrieked, like some kind of deranged bible-thumper. "What the hell's gotten into you?! Didn't your father's disembodied voice ever call and give you a talking-to?"

She held up her smartphone. "He calls me all the time. Who do you think I was just talking to? Vincent's been mediating for us... and honestly, things are so much better now between he and I. He apologized and I've forgiven him for beating me up all those years."

___Oh, how nice._

A horrible hallow feeling tore straight through my chest, and my eyes began to sting even worse. "Wow... looks like you've got it all now, huh," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm. "Cool stuff and an awesome living father. 'Way to go Claudia'." My voice was breaking up near the end, and a lump had formed in my throat. I bit my tongue as hard as I could while blinking back the impending waterworks.

"Heather..." said Henry softly, and I felt his hand rest lightly on my shoulder.

"Whatever. I'm happy for her, I guess."

Claudia turned away to the side. "But I didn't..."

"Yeah, it didn't change anything," I replied, almost tearfully. "But I'm fine. I'll get out of your face now."

She looked over again, and I could tell she felt ___something._

Pity.

There it was.

I grabbed Henry's hand off of me and dragged him along as I stormed over to the door.

"Some High Priestess you are," I shot at her, just before we loaded out.


	10. Chapter 10: The Exploited

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 10: The Exploited**

Henry was standing off to the side, letting me have my moment. I walked the hallway angrily up and down. The Double Head trotted a few paces behind, echoing my stomping footsteps. My anger gradually subsided, and after a while I just felt like crying it out. My_ first_ instinct was to go sobbing to my father... but he was only a retextured James corpse model.

And Harry...

_"____My daughter is back in our game with her own character model. Sorry."_

That was just cold.

I dropped down to the floor next to my monster and buried my face into its dried bandages. The Double Head pawed at my arm and let out a mournful howl, and I started to feel better having something to hold onto. "I love you too," I said, not giving a damn whether Henry heard me or not. I gave the creature a squeeze, wondering if I'd ever be able to hurt another monster of any type again. Then I felt ashamed, because it really _was_ my fault the God would never show. I ___was _the worst protagonist ever, and probably did deserve to be excommunicated. I swept my hair to the side out of my eyes and sighed, wondering if I should just duck out of the game for good.

Was it even possible?

"Sorry, Henry..." I said, as I stood back up. "I uh... I'm not used to feeling... well, anything like this, I guess. It's not easy..."

He moved closer and nodded. "You know... everybody picks on me for being so dull and emotionless. But really... I feel things the same as anyone else. I just like to keep them to myself..."

"Yeah, until you see a monster or a ghost... or Walter, even. You must have some serious pent up rage _somewhere_. I've seen you get all sorts of crazy with that rusty axe."

He chuckled, but only a tiny bit.

"And you're so protective of Eileen through the second half of the game. And that Escape ending... it's really cute. I think people who call you emotionless are dumbasses."

I thought I saw him blush, but I couldn't be sure.

"Let's go check out Hallway 4, then we'll go see if we can find Frank's psychotic son," I said.

Hallway 4 on the far right was built similarly to 3, though there were many more labeled doors to investigate. We split up on either side to check them. Henry ran straight for the Eileen Galvin door, but it was locked up tight. I quietly wondered what had taken him so long to go looking for her, but I wasn't about to bring it up.

The Double Head waited close by while I moved down the hall, trying out each door without much enthusiasm. The Audio Room was broken locked, the same as Hallway 3. The next four were locked: Richard Braintree, Joseph Schreiber, Ghost Storage, (again, thank God), Cynthia Velasquez. One of the doors looked strange as I approached it. An index card had been taped over the nameplate. 302, it said. Feeling nosy, I picked at the tape with my fingernail. A corner of the card peeled back to reveal the name: Walter Sullivan. ___Huh, so he gets a room too? _Another unusual thing was a hole, drilled rather unprofessionally below the nameplate, about the width of a quarter. An improvised peephole, I guessed. I leaned in close for a peek.

___What the..._

It looked a lot like Henry's apartment, but switched completely over into the nightmare version. And ___people _were in it. I spotted adult Walter, stretched back on the sofa with his feet up on the coffee table in front Henry's television set (still a chunky CRT TV, thank goodness). My jaw dropped as I noticed the woman standing in the kitchen wearing a pink striped tank top and short jean skirt. It was Eileen, of course. She was stirring a saucepot on the stove with one hand and staring at the lit screen of a mobile device held in the other. Two opened cans of off-brand Chef Boyardee were sitting on the counter next to her.

___How the f... hell can she be alive...? That's the 21 Sacraments ending, isn't it?_

"What's going on in there?" asked Henry, nearly startling me into a heart attack. I cupped a hand over my mouth to stifle a yelp.

"Uhh uhh... umm... _can'tseeanything_!" I replied, quickly blocking the peephole from view. "Must be a one-way only."

He nodded, crossing his arms. "Yeah... that explains why I can never get anyone to see me through mine."

A man's scream rang out through the air. A harrowing sound, like the end note to a death scene. It sounded a lot like James. Henry and I exchanged panicked glances, then bolted towards the direction of the lobby with the monster chasing after us. Hallway 2 was the obvious choice.

"James?" we yelled out now and again, "James, where are you?" The Double Head howled and jumped up onto one of the doors. I hurried over to it and wrenched open the door handle. The nameplate read: Merchandise.

I loaded in first. There were a few lights on in the back, but the room was pretty dim upon entering. I reached up and turned on my flashlight out of habit, and to the right of the door I found four light switches. I flipped all of them and the room brightened with a soft buzz of fluorescent lights above. Henry appeared next to me and we assessed the surroundings.

_Whoa._

It was like a superficial Silent Hill 2 nerd's dream come true. The place was a fairly good size, and it was packed full of all sorts of stuff. There was a constant theme going on, that was perfectly clear. Lots and lots of Pyramid Head, and lots of Bubblehead Nurses.

"Jeeeez..." whispered Henry.

"James?" I called out weakly, looking around in a state of mild shock. T-shirts and hoodies, all printed with Pyramid Head. Lunch boxes, tumblers, plushies. Even a baby's onesie. Some artwork covered boxes were lined up on a shelf to my left, and I stopped to investigate. They were figurines, a few of which had been opened. They were surprisingly well-made, hand-painted and gorgeously detailed. Most of them were monsters, but as I wandered over to the other side, I saw a few Jameses and Marias. Angelas and Eddies, even Marys! No Lauras, though. A bin of rolled up posters blocked my path, I shoved it out of the way with my boot and moved on. "James, where the hell are you? This isn't funny and definitely not in character. You hate tricks."

"Found him," called Henry, who had followed the Double Head into a room somewhere in the back.

I nearly tripped over something in the way of the aisle. A knocked over life-sized statue of the Big Pyramid himself, clutching his Greatknife. It was pretty tacky to think of someone having it in their house, and the price tag was absurd: 5,000 bucks. _Man, w__hat a world._

James had been reduced to a quivering mass on the floor, tucked up into a fetal position. The Double Head was sniffing and licking his dirty blonde hair into a cowlick, but he was oblivious. Henry was standing over him. I watched him bend over to tear something out of James' rigid fingers. A thick stack of papers bound together.

"What is it?" I asked, walking over to join him. I had to step over the unresponsive James.

"Looks like... a film script of some sort," he replied, handing it over for me to inspect.

"Oh, like a Silent Hill 2 movie? What's so bad about... um, never mind." I again remembered how awful the previous films had been, and assumed it had been rock bottom, but Konami loved to keep on rockdrilling anyway. I flipped nonchalantly through the pages, expecting cheesy dialogue and plot holes galore.

"Uh... Henry."

He was on his knees, trying to shake James out of his catatonic state. "Yes?"

"It's a porno."

"Uh... oh... my God." He let go of James, and looked away. "That's terrible."

"With Maria and Pyramid Head and some... Nurses."

James whimpered and shut his eyes tightly.

Disgusted, I dropped the script on the floor with a dull _thud. _"Dammit, this is horrible! I'm so sorry James! That's like... This is just..." I just couldn't put it into words. _No_ protagonist deserved such a repulsive treatment of their game, no matter _how_ crappy of a person they happened to be. I let out a shuddering sigh as I wiped my hands off on my skirt.

Henry and I grabbed a hold of James' arms and pulled him up off of the floor. We then dragged him through the doorway, alien abduction style. He didn't put up a fight.

"Vincent's done," I said breathlessly, carrying at least one fourth of the weight of a full grown man. "DONE. Do you hear me?" Henry was scowling as we moved towards the exit, and he'd gone awfully quiet again. I reassured myself that keeping Eileen and Walter a secret had been a good idea. He was like a ticking time bomb hidden beneath a calm exterior, and I didn't want him inadvertently bludgeoning Vincent to death with his steel pipe. He was _my_ antagonist after all, and I'd make for damn sure he would pay for what he'd done... The suffering he had caused.

_"Suffering is a fact of life. Either you learn to deal with that or you go under."_

___Oh, shut up, _I silently grumbled, remembering the lines of my game script. That was _then_, when everything made sense. It didn't really apply now.

___"Revenge doesn't solve anything."_

Douglas had told me that at my father's "funeral", but I'd never actually had a father. It shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. And Douglas wasn't being any sort of father figure to me—too wrapped up in playing Mystery Inc. with Harry. My thoughts then turned back to Harry denying me as his daughter, and the depressing cycle began anew. It was like rubbing salt, and lemon juice, and battery acid all at once into a fresh wound. I sighed heavily as we loaded out into the hallway. My life had really gone down the crapper, and Claudia had it so good, it made me sick.

I _almost_ wanted to go after her too.

___Toughen up, girl. _

I bit my lip and squinted my eyes to keep the looming tears at bay. I had a job to do and a game to finish.

We laid James gently down on the floor in a recovery position, then sat across from each other with our backs to the wall to rest for a moment. "Heather!" called a voice, echoing from somewhere up ahead. It sounded, amazingly, like Douglas.

"Yeah!" I yelled back. I couldn't see him, but I heard his hurried footsteps. "We're in 2!"

"To what?"

"Hallway 2, dummy!" I found myself smiling a little in spite of everything, and wrapped an arm around the Double Head beside me.

He poked his head around the corner. "Oh, _there_ you are," he said. "Jeez, that Hospital was something else. And who the hell's Stanley Coleman? He really skeeved Harry out."

I shrugged. "Just some weird guy. I didn't think he would bother leaving those out for you."

"Did Harry make it out okay?" asked Henry.

"He, uh..." Douglas paused and removed his hat. "Yeah, he's okay, I think. I was slowing him down too much, so he went on ahead. Have you run into him here yet? He said he was gonna try to talk to Claudia."

My mood went dark again.

_What, does she need two dads now? _

Yeah. I was bitter.

"What's goin' on with him?" he asked, peering down at James.

James muttered something incomprehensible, but he'd managed to pull himself up to a sit.

"He's seen things, man," I answered. "Leave it at that."

"Are you okay, Heather? You don't look so—"

"I'm fine," I interrupted. "Nothing you need to worry about. So I guess the Leonard phone was nowhere to be found, huh?"

Douglas nodded, looking disappointed. "All that work for nothing... Eh, who am I to complain. Harry fought all the monsters."

"It was worth a shot," came a voice from around the corner, "but she's not cooperating." Harry finally made his appearance, and he looked pretty worn out from the Brookhaven level. The Double Head was setting off his radio, so reached up and lowered the volume, then he took a seat on the floor beside me. He rested his head back to the wall, gazing upward. "I need to think for a minute."

_Yeah,_ I thought darkly,_ I'm sure you damn near persuaded her to death in there._ Then I felt awful just for thinking it. God, I was turning into a terrible person. I remembered how much of a scumbag Leonard used to be, and how Harry would _never_ behave in such a way. I looked down at my locket, then back over at him, feeling conflicted again. Then I started to panic internally. I assumed Claudia had told him what I had done. Hadn't done, rather. But if she had, he gave no indication he knew anything of it.

Henry quieted a yawn as he sat beside the broken down James. The Double Head spun in circles a few times, doggy style, before laying its split heads across my legs. I turned my head and looked over towards Douglas. He was leaning back against the wall at the open end of the hall. He was holding his hat in his hand, and seemed to be lost in thought.

_He's probably thinking about his son._

This stupid play through was getting to all of us.

"I'm killing Vincent," I said, breaking the silence.

"No, you're not," said Harry firmly. "Something bad will happen if you do, and I won't allow it."

"It's my game," I replied flatly. "If you're not my father, then you can't tell me what to do." I stared straight ahead, well aware that everyone was looking at me now (except for James).

"Heather!" exclaimed Douglas.

Harry grabbed my wrist roughly, and I'll admit, I flinched. But his eyes met mine with concern, rather than anger. "If you do it, something ___terrible _will happen... and I'm not sure what," he said. I felt him squeeze my hand. "I know you've been through far worse than any of us here, but you can't lose yourself now."

I blinked and looked away, unable to stare him in the face any longer. I noticed his fingers as he pulled his hand away again. They were stained red. _Monster blood? _I stole a glance over for a better look. The entire arm of his sleeve was dark and wet, and he'd pulled the sides of his jacket together in an attempt to hide the blood-stained vest and shirt beneath it.

"You got hurt in there," I said quietly.

"Nurses packing heat. That's new to me," he replied, resting his head down against his arm tiredly.

We sat there for several more minutes, and I just wanted to get moving.

Harry spoke up again. "Try... try using the Aglaophotis," he suggested. "It's the only thing I can think of."

"Okay," I found myself saying, and before I knew what I was doing, I was already in the inventory screen. I selected the locket and pressed "use".

___I can't use this here._

"It's not letting me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

He looked down warily at the Double Head resting on my lap, then he grimaced as he searched through the side pockets of his jacket. "I'm out of ideas then," he said. "All we can do now is talk to Vincent and find out what's causing all of this. Even I'm beginning to feel the effects... and I saw that first hallway." His gloomy expression grew ever darker. "It's only a matter of time."

James whispered something unintelligible. I glanced up, but saw that his eyes weren't focusing on anything in particular.

"What happened to him?" asked Harry, looking over.

Henry sighed. "Just leave him alone for a while... he'll snap out of it eventually."


	11. Chapter 11: Now Here

******Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

******Chapter 11: Now Here**

I dug around in my menu screen for the handwritten note I'd stashed away earlier, then passed it over to Harry.___  
_

"He ___somehow _got the Brass key from the wall in my old bedroom," I said, "and that's what he left with it behind the painting... but his door's locked in Hallway 3, and I haven't found a key to it yet."

"I don't have the map of this—" began Harry and I in unison, then we stopped and looked at one another. Henry cracked a smile, and Douglas seemed to be entertained. James went on ignoring everything that was happening around him.

"Anyway..." I shook my head a little to clear it. "I can draw a map of this place, but someone has to start it for me. Preferably in crayon, with some cutesy children's drawings."

Henry strode back over in the direction of the lobby, and I studied the doors of the hall we were sitting in. Merchandise, Angela Orosco, and Monster Room were to our left, and to the far right James Sunderland. Across the way, the Mary Shepherd-Sunderland and Maria doors were practically next to each other. All presumably locked or broken locked, other than the first one. I had my doubts any of the rooms would prove useful, but I reminded myself that this wasn't _just_ a Silent Hill 3 game anymore and _anything_ was possible.

Harry coughed into his sleeve suddenly, and I watched him discreetly wipe away a dribble of blood from the corner of his mouth. Some of his hair had fallen down into his eyes, and he was slumped back heavily against the wall. He looked terrible, to put it bluntly. Like he'd been run over by a truck.

"You alright, Harry?" Douglas asked warily.

Harry shook his head. "Pretty sure I've got some internal bleeding," he said. "But I should be fine once I get back home. Hopefully." He coughed hard into the arm of his sleeve again, and pulled his jacket back together.

"Are you _dying_?" I asked. "Like... over time?"

"I think so, yeah. I just hit the red a minute ago. But it's fine. Let's stay focused on finding a way to get through this level."

___Are you kidding me? _

I felt like shaking him.

"Stop being so coolheaded about this!" I cried. "You can't go keeling over now! What'll I do if you die?"

"You'll have to go on without me," he said. "I was being played on Hard difficulty at the time I was called, by a very unskilled player. It was towards the end of the game and they used up every health item I had. There's nothing I can do about it now."

Henry came jogging up, holding a sheet of paper he'd ripped out of the desk's typewriter. I snatched it out of his hand and pressed it to the floor. "Draw a bunny please, Henry," I said. "You don't have to make it look too good. Oh, and a house with a triangle roof there on the right." I flipped the page over. "An apple tree should go here," I pointed. He uncapped his pen and got to work right away with a look of deep concentration.

"Does it hurt?" I asked Harry, staring at the bloody smears he'd left on the carpet and wall.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't," he replied wearily, and I began to notice how much paler he looked since the first time I'd laid eyes on him. I reached over and grabbed his right hand.

It was freezing.

_Goddammit._

He really _was_ dying.

I got up and hurried over to Douglas standing nearby. "Health drink? First aid kit?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Main characters only."

"But Maria in Born from a Wish!"

James lifted his head and mumbled something, but I was fairly certain it was in Japanese.

"Yeah, but she only used 'em when it was her scenario," said Douglas.

I rolled my eyes. "I _know_ you guys ran into some health items. Normal Brookhaven is packed full of them... and there was definitely an Ampoule in room C2."

He glanced over at Harry, then he leaned in to me and whispered, "We talked about this already... but he wouldn't listen. He said they were 'strictly for Heather use only'."

"You old fool!" I yelled as I spun around to face Harry again. "How could you get yourself hurt like that?!"

"I was_ trying_ to save your ending," he shot back. "And I'm not old, I'm thirty-two."

"Maybe I don't ___need _a good ending this time. Did you ever stop and consider that? I have a dark side too, after all... and _my _bad ending's way better than dying in a freaking Jeep."

He narrowed his eyes at me, and now he actually did look pretty mad. "You know, you remind me of my daughter sometimes."

I smirked and put a hand on my hip. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. She never listens to me either."

"Well, news flash: I ___am _her," I countered. "I'm the reincarnation of the restored soul splits. If you'd pull your head outta your own game for once, you'd know that."

I had the upper hand now, so I went in for the kill. "And I _still_ remember drawing that awful picture of you on the sketchbook cover," I said dryly. "And I remember Mom, too... and I'm not talking about Dahlia."

I could tell I'd struck a nerve, so I bit my tongue after that. He looked unsettled, but he had nothing else to say. I crossed my arms and turned away, feeling irritated. Then I began to feel a bit guilty for picking a fight with someone propped against a wall, mortally wounded.

"I'm finished," said Henry, holding up the paper. "It's not in crayon, but... one bunny rabbit, house and tree... and sorry if it sucks, but that's what you wanted... I drew some of the Church level too, to get you started..."

I stepped back over and retrieved the map from him. "Awesome, thanks," I said. "Hey uh... do you still have that Nutrition drink on you by any chance?" I gestured over to Harry and raised my voice loud enough for him to hear. "He's blinking red over there, and you might have to pin him down and feed it to him." Henry looked over, then gave me an understanding nod as he stood up.

I began sketching out the new area, glancing over now and again as the ensuing argument grew more heated as time went on.

_You told me you were the strongest man in the world. _

Or had he? Silent Hill 3 had really cut the character of Harry Mason down to size, but Harry of Silent Hill was made of tougher stuff. Yet there he was, dying in a lonely hallway out of pure stubbornness. I shook my head slowly and turned my attention back to drawing the layout of the level, but I couldn't shake away that guilty feeling from before.

_I should apologize sometime._

The rubble and tape from Hallway 1 had cleared on its own, and I wandered up and down with my monster as I made note of each door. The Harry Mason door was first, the same as mine had been. Audio was to the right, followed by Lisa Garland, Corpse Storage, Dr. Michael Kaufmann and Cybil Bennett. None would open, as I'd expected. I tried tapping on all of them, but they were either locked on both sides, or perhaps soundproofed while locked. Whatever the deal was, my senses were telling me that the rooms weren't empty, and it definitely made me feel uneasy.

On the opposite side, Dahlia Gillespie was mercifully locked, and the Equipment Room was broken locked as usual. Directly across from Harry's door was Cheryl Mason. I did hesitate for a while before trying to open it. I guess I was a bit worried about screwing up the space-time continuum anymore than it had been. More likely, it was probably the incredible jealousy I felt. _Jealous at myself...? _I brushed it off and chalked it up to my own sanity, hanging dangerously by a thread. Thankfully, Cheryl_ and_ Alessa were both locked. It would have been pretty uncomfortable for all of us.

The James and Henry doors were also at the front of their appropriate hallways. After that it went seemingly random. There were rooms for the antagonists, and the supporting roles, and broken locked Equipment and Audio doors in each. Only Hallway 2 had merchandise for sale, which I suppose could have been taken as an insult, but after finding that dirty movie script earlier, I felt very much relieved.

"_Use it, damn you_!" yelled James, and his irate voice echoed throughout the empty halls. He was finally back to his hot-tempered old self. _You tell him _I thought, and a smile crept over my lips.

"If you die here, it might be for good..." said Henry. "Just take it... we won't watch you drink it..."

Each hallway had a wider door at the very end, set into the back of the wall. I twisted each doorknob curiously. They wasn't locked or broken, but seemed to be held closed with a mysterious force. There were brass nameplates attached, but nothing had been engraved. Unsure of what to make of them, I left all four unscribbled on the map.

I had devoted about thirty minutes to exploration, and drawing had taken up quite a bit of that time (not that I cared about my ranking anymore). I crouched down and showed the completed map off to my monster, who barked an approval. I scratched it under one of its chins, then made my way back to Hallway 2 to join the others.

Harry looked a little violated, but some of the color had returned to his face. I refrained from asking, if only to spare him some dignity. "Okay, guys," I said. "I'm completely stumped. The Father Vincent door is locked up good and there is no key to be found. The unlocked doors have nothing useful in them."

I held up the map for all to see, proud of my red x's and scribbles, and lines. It was the first map I'd ever drawn on my own without automation, and I thought I'd done a pretty good job with it.

James, appearing much better now, pointed to the wide door at the end. "Where do these doors go, and why aren't they marked?"

"They're not locked or broken, but they wouldn't open up," I replied. "I didn't know what to put down..."

"Every final level has an exit," muttered Harry. "We just never noticed because it happens off screen. It's how the protagonist makes their getaway at the end of the game. I'm assuming that's how we get back once the game has been beaten."

"But why would we get exits?" I asked. "Didn't Vincent build this area of the level? Does he plan on losing the fight?"

"Maybe it's the work of the Old Gods," said James thoughtfully. "They tend to keep_ some_ things in check. We're still in a Silent Hill game after all, and I know they still hold power here. I venerated them to channel through Dead Harry... and to bring Harry here."

"Hey... now that you mention it, how did Henr—" Suddenly, the floor felt like it was vibrating, then gave way to an actual quaking. I fell over backwards and held onto my Double Head for dear life. The shaking subsided after about five seconds, though it felt a lot longer.

"What the hell?" the four of us stated in perfect synchronization. Only Douglas and the monster stayed quiet.

I ran, straight in the direction of the lobby, and gazed around the room to see if anything had happened. The vending machines in the alcove to the left were now lit up, and a pair of restroom doors had been added on the opposite side. I waited a moment for the others, taking a few seconds to mark the changes on my map. The Double Head wandered about the area, sniffing curiously.

"Heather, you better take a look at this," said Douglas from behind me.

I looked up. "What?" Then dropped my pen on the floor. "Aw, sh... hell."

A blank wall had been there before, separating Hallways 1 and 2 from 3 and 4. Now it held a new hall of its own. I walked up for a quick look, but this one was much shorter than the others. A black scrolling marquee sign had been attached above the only door at the end.

___Testing... Testing... Testing... _it flashed in red, over and over again.


	12. Chapter 12: Chilling Time

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 12: Chilling Time**

The guys were taking their sweet time helping Harry become mobile again back in Hallway 2. I strolled around the lobby area with my Double Head, taking in the sights with no immediate sense of urgency. That new hallway was pretty unnerving, and I guess I _was_ afraid of what could be in there. All bets were off as to what could be waiting behind that door. Probably Vincent (fine), possibly a fire-spewing demon (that would be okay, too), or three hundred chainsaw-wielding Robbie the Rabbits, or Godzilla.

I rubbed my eyes, trying my hardest to ignore the headache that had plagued me the last twelve hours or so. It was probably a lot longer, but with my saves corrupted, my sense of time was all screwed up. The oddest feeling tugged at me from below—like a whining twinge. I looked back over my shoulder at the door to the ladies' room and wrinkled my nose. Silent Hill bathrooms are almost always disgusting, and I had never peed before in my life.

I could hold it.

The Double Head arfed and looked up at me, wagging its stumpy tail. I reached down to give it a pat, and the movement of my reflection caught my eye. It was in the front glass panel on the vending machine a few feet away. I looked bloody terrible at first glance, and quickly averted my gaze, but soon I found myself drifting over to it. I stared at the dark circles beneath my eyes, and my disheveled hair, and my tired expression. Fair enough, maybe I wasn't the prettiest girl to ever grace the series, but I wasn't used to seeing myself looking so ghastly. I ran a hand over my bottle blonde locks, smoothing them down. I rubbed my eyes again for good measure, and my nose, and heaved a long sigh.

This game had gone on long enough, but I guess I didn't want _some_ things to end. I would miss my monster of course, first and foremost. And I had to admit... hanging out with the other main characters could be fun sometimes too. I did care about all of them, whether they realized it or not. James had become like the crazy uncle I'd never had. The type to get too high-strung and belligerent at family Christmas parties, thrown out into the snow, and locked out of the house. And yeah, Henry _was_ easy on the eyes, I wasn't about to lie to myself there. And he was protective even if I didn't need him to be. But he was still Eileen's main squeeze, and besides that, he was a bit too old for me anyway. Then there was Harry, who I did find to be way too traditional, stubborn, and _painfully_ dad-like. He was trying to stay in character the hardest out of all of us, so I guess I could see where he was coming from. Definitely the "good guy" of the series, just as James had said... No wonder we couldn't seem to get along.

In the end I would miss all of them, but it wasn't fair of me to keep them from their games for very long. I knew deep down James wanted to go hunting for Mary again, and Henry had to rescue Eileen. Harry had been played almost to the end of his story, and health items or not, I had confidence he would have been able to beat the game on his own. Only now he'd been shot through by Brookhaven Nurses trying to help out _my_ ungrateful ass. That Bulletproof vest might have come in handy (if I could get him to equip it), but it had only been available in the Nightmare Mall.

It really was all my fault.

I could ignore the call of nature well enough, but I'd gotten very thirsty from running around for so many hours. I peered inside of the vending machine in front of me. It was packed full of different drinks. Canned juice and coffee, grape flavored soda, and iced tea... all with strange brand names. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of drinking anything that came out of this crazy place, but I guess it didn't matter since I had no money. I hadn't picked up any strange coins lately, either. I glanced over. The second machine held a variety of snacks and junk food. I scanned the inside, checking out the similarly shaped textured models. There were backwards labeled chips and chocolate-covered pretzel-looking things, among other stuff, but it all looked pretty unobtainable.

_What's this? _

Maybe a practical joke by Vincent or the Old Gods, but someone had stuck a couple of packages of "Bell Bland" Beef Jerky down at the bottom, just within reach. I crouched down next to my sniffing monster and stuck my hand inside. I snatched one up and examined it. "For dogs only" the menu said. I ripped open the package and held out a piece for the Double Head. "Easy... easy..." It shot me a look like maybe I was being condescending, but it took the food gently into its mouths.

_You're really the only one who gets me around here..._

Without any hesitation, I leaned forward and gave it a peck on the top of its right split head.

"Heather! That's groooooss!" It was James.

I jumped, then turned my head back at him. "Oh, shuddup. It's_ my_ monster."

"Who could ever..." He shuddered and gave me a look of disapproval before turning his back on me. I then saw that the others had come over to join us. Harry had managed to drag himself up off of the floor and out of the hallway, but he was slightly hunched over and holding his arms around himself as he stood there. He just looked wiped out. We all did, come to think of it.

"Are we ready to get a move on?" I asked.

"I..." started James, "kinda... have this feeling, you know? Like if you've gotta..." he trailed off, but he had a troubled look on his face.

"I know I do," said Henry, and he'd already started to make his way over to the men's bathroom. James bolted ahead of him.

Douglas turned to me. "I'm gonna have a smoke. I'll be just up ahead if you need anything." He made his way over to the marquee posted door, and I heard the faint clicking of his lighter echoing through the empty hall.

Harry was still standing there.

I turned to face him. "I um..."

He unfolded his arms and looked back at me.

"I just wanted to say sorry for everything," I said quickly, and started to move past him, but he grabbed my shoulder in a rather uncharacteristic manner.

I put my arms around him, instinctively.

_Not Dad._

I started to pull away again, since he'd kept his arms at his sides in typical Harry fashion, but also because I noticed that he was having a bit of trouble breathing. His vest tore away from mine, leaving a large bloody print.

"Sorry," he said, looking down at himself with disgust.

_The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh._

It was getting super awkward.

"It's okay, it happens in the game anyway," I said. "Did I... hurt you?"

"Yeah everything hurts now, but I don't mind. I just need to ask you to do something for me while we've got a minute alone."

I looked him straight in the eye. He sounded even more serious than usual. "What?"

"I know you're upset with Vincent, but I don't want you to..." He sighed. "I want you to promise me you'll at least hear him out. He probably has plenty of exposition... and we might be able to learn something from him."

I thought about it for a moment.

"Okay. I will."

"You'll leave him alive?"

"Long enough for him to explain himself, yeah."

He looked relieved and gave me an appreciative nod, then I watched as he turned his attention to the machine over to the side of us. I stood there in shock as he grabbed hold of his steel pipe and _SMASHED_ the everloving hell out of the glass. Tiny glinting shards flew everywhere, startling my monster and causing it to cower behind my thighs.

_Holy crap._

He wiped his hands off on his jeans, then he reached down, picking up a bottle of water from the bottom shelf. I continued to gawk as he twisted off the cap and downed about half of the drink in one go.

He turned back to face me again.

"Blood loss dehydrates," he explained calmly, smoothing his hair back with one hand.

_Holy crap. Holy crap._

Douglas had returned to see what all the commotion was about, along with Henry and James. They were all staring now, probably far more stunned than I was.

"Let's get you all home..." I said softly, tucking my gold pipe away.


	13. Chapter 13: NOTICE: Hell is Coming

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 13: NOTICE: Hell is Coming**

_What was I going on about?_

_I wasn't sure if I was thinking, or daydreaming, or sleeping, or... _

_Wait._

_What were we doing again?_

_And why...?_

_Because._

_Because Harry's gotta chase after that girl with short, black hair. T__hough he knows he will never find her._

_And James just can't live without his Mary. B__ut he'll be fine. B__ecause he knows he can always bring her back._

_And Henry's fully aware he will never escape from his apartment unless he wiggles his way through Walter's symbolic gopher holes. __Someone has to save poor Eileen._

_As for me, I'm kept busy with facing my past, but I'm really on a quest for revenge. Because that cultist bitch who won't shut her stinkin' mouth killed my father in his sleep... and now she's gonna pay._

_..."Heather?"..._

_We run in the dark, we run in the light. We run through the gloom and the fog. __We're searching for something we know is there, or something we know that isn't. __We do it because we have no choice, and we'll do it again and again. __Never in fear, not in the least, because we already know what's ahead._

_"Heather."_

_I guess it's because I'm always suffering some sort of identity crisis, or maybe I'm just fed up with the routine. Because sometimes I do wanna steal that nice silver ring (bummer it's gone now, huh). And last time the cash in that Nightmare Cafe looked awfully tempting... _

_But I didn't, and I won't, and I don't care what that stupid Midwich desk said. 'Cause I'm no thief (though I may act like one now and then)._

_But..._

_I know it's terrible... but I really do love carrying that switchblade around wherever I go... _

_Maybe__ I do enjoy spilling their blood... and listening to them cry out..._

_Don't I?_

_I don't know._

_I really don't know who I am anymore._

_..._

_Oh, the grates are back. Surely that's a good thing. _

_It means God is on Her way._

_..._

_"Heather Mason!"_

_Dad's yelling... better say something._

_..._

_"Dead people don't yell."_

I think I might have mumbled something like that.

My raw throat burned and I couldn't see anything. No biggie, I went for my flashlight.

It wasn't there.

I was lying flat on the cold hard ground. It wasn't comfortable and my headache had grown into something else. So what if I couldn't form a coherent sentence? I'd try anyway.

"Grates?"

"Heather, look at me."

I think someone was touching my cheek. Then I felt my hair being brushed back out of my eyes.

"It's too freaking dark..."

"No, it's not. Look."

I cracked my eyes open just enough to satisfy them, then I felt like I was being smothered. Too many bodies huddled around me.

"Back up, she's all right." It was Harry.

"What happened?" That was Douglas.

"She freaked out... happens to the best of us." James, from the sound of it.

"Grates?" I kept asking, but no one was providing an explanation.

Five people, a monster, and two flashlights among us. Harry had his and Douglas was holding one too. I held out my hand. "That's mine, isn't it?"

He handed it over immediately.

I felt warm fur and cloth strips rustling against me. The Double Head was standing guard. My other hand fell away to the side, and I felt rusty metal beneath my fingers.

Grates.

"What's going on?"

"You were fine one minute, right up until we came in here..." said James.

"She's fine now," said Harry quickly. "Just gave us a scare is all."

I lifted my flashlight beam slowly and squinted as I looked up. The pain was terrible.

"Did it shift?" I asked.

"No," Harry replied. "I can walk right through that door we passed, and it's exactly the same." He pointed his flashlight behind everyone. I turned my head slowly, painfully. The door was way back behind us, but I could make out that it had been left open a tiny bit, and a bright glow was peeking its way in.

"I don't even remember going through it."

James was giving me an odd look. "As soon as we came in you went running ahead of everybody... and then we heard you screaming your lungs out, and I thought..." He shuddered as he wrapped his arms around himself. "Well, I guess I thought you might have run into _him_."

"Wow... sorry," I mumbled, then pointed my light up again. The ceiling looked strange.

"Wait. Where are we again?"

Harry sighed. "We told you, the door is right over there."

"But it looks like..."

"I know, it looks like it's being invaded by the... you know. But that can't be. It's clearly fake."

"How?"

"Just a fake environment."

I had to stop there because I was getting queasy again, and damn was I ever tired of it.

I would have rather faced the three hundred Robbies.

"I need help..." I felt horribly embarrassed, but Harry held out his hand. I took it and was pulled up to a wobbly stand. I then rested my hand on the wall. It was rough and scratchy, like old damaged boards. I looked back, then forward again. We were in a narrow tunnel of some kind. The texture work wasn't half bad, but not quite on par with the original team. I reached down and patted the Double Head, but it was more to reassure myself.

"Have any of you ever gotten a migraine?" I asked. "Like... a really killer one?"

They all looked thoughtful, except for Douglas, who shook his head no.

"Not really," said James. "Though I've gotten strangled plenty of times and that can suck... but I'm not sure I felt it."

"The ghosts... and the box in the Super's room..." said Henry. "I don't remember it all that well..."

Harry turned to me, but he kept his flashlight beam pointed away. "I get headaches... and I think I spend all of my time in Silent Hill with a mild concussion."

"Yeah, but how much did it bother you?"

"I don't think it did."

"This hurts... I'm trying... It's just really starting to wear me down."

"Are you gonna be okay...?" asked Henry, and he moved closer to me.

"I hope so, but it's making me wonder about things."

"Like what?" asked James, sounding impatient. "What are you getting at with all this?"

"Real life, I guess... Life outside."

Harry frowned. "But we're still only characters. I was shot twice in Brookhaven, and I seem to be dealing with it."

"But this isn't your game, is it?"

"If Vincent gets his way, who knows what could happen." He sighed as he folded his arms. "I'm just afraid... for all of us."

"I feel like I'm losing my mind," I said, truthfully. "We just aren't designed to deal with this crap. If we were real people, we'd all be locked up in a loony bin for sure. Especially James. Well... I guess he'd be in jail."

"Shut up!" yelled James. "I had my reasons... there's more than one side to the story."

"See, you didn't care before."

He scowled, but he also looked a bit depressed.

I turned and took a few uneven steps up the tunnel. My Double Head pushed its split heads up into my right hand. I scratched it behind the ear halfheartedly.

"Forward," I said, then awkwardly pointed the way. I meant to say "let's go", but it came out wrong. Oh well.

The clanking footsteps of four men followed behind us. I was in a sorry state, but I tried to keep up a decent pace. The grated tunnel seemed to stretch on forever. Was it some kind of trick? I didn't think it would be, and I pointed my light up as far as I could see. There were double doors ahead, thank God.

"Do me a favor, guys," I said, raising my weary voice as loud as I could over their footsteps. "It's important. Promise me something."

James chuckled. "I don't keep promises very well!" he said. Jeez, what a mood swing he'd just had. I was really starting to worry about him.

I sighed and stopped for a moment. "Just promise me none of you will lay a finger on Vincent. No matter how snarky and obnoxious he gets."

"That's an easy one," said Harry.

"Yeah, I guess..." said Henry.

Douglas called up from the rear of the line, "I'm not gonna be there."

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"Hell, Heather, I'm not even supposed to make it to the Church."

"But you've been pretty helpful this time through..."

"Exactly. It's not like me."

He had a point there, and I found myself too tired to argue.

We finally met with the double doors at the end. I pushed forward on the handles and they swung open. We passed through them without a loading screen. I paused and looked around for a moment. The walls looked even weirder now, but the place had a disturbingly nostalgic feel to it. I knew it from somewhere, but it all felt_ off_, and that just made everything worse. We moved on ahead and Harry and I pointed our flashlights around the corner to the right.

It was an elevator.

"This looks awfully familiar," said Harry.

"Man, if Alchemilla had these graphics..." I muttered.

I could feel him glaring down at me.

"Uh, sorry," I said quickly. "It still looks pretty amazing for a Playstation game."

"It's in full 3D with no pre-rendered backgrounds, give it some credit," he said.

"You know what I like best about Silent Hill..." said Henry softly. "It has a really good story... that isn't too complicated."

"Yeah, I like that too," I said, and pointed my light just fast enough to catch Harry smirking a bit.

We went ahead and approached the elevator, but Douglas was hanging back.

I turned back to him. "Here?" I asked. "Really?"

"Yep," he replied.

"Can you just make sure everyone gets back okay? Please?"

He took off his hat and smiled warmly at me, even though he looked tired as hell. "For you, Heather... anything."

My eyes started to burn again.

I ran forward and gave him a quick hug. I couldn't help myself. "Thanks for being there for me, and helping me get rid of that stupid phone," I whispered.

He gave me a good-natured squeeze. "Anytime," he said, then he began to dig through his coat pockets. He handed me something.

I stared down at it, flipping it back and forth. It was the long lost Fool Tarot card from Alessa's hospital room.

"Holy Hell..."

"I found it on the floor in the hall back in the Church," he said. "Thought it might mean something to ya. A fool and her dog, y'know." He nodded his head over to my monster.

"Now that I think about it... this thing used to kinda piss me off."

I heard James snicker under his breath behind me, and I couldn't help but grin. Then I broke out into a laugh.

"Try walking the path of the Hermit sometime," said Harry. "If that doesn't make you feel like an old geezer, nothing will."

Everyone was smiling now, and the lift in the mood finally eased my headache enough that I felt like I could take on damn near anything. I went ahead and punched the call button to the right of the elevator doors.

We waited.

The elevator came, and the doors slid open with an oddly cheerful_ ding!_ I motioned for the others to go in ahead of me.

"I'll see you on the next game," I said to Douglas, before stepping in.

"You better believe it," he called back.


	14. Chapter 14: Puzzled

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 14: Puzzled**

"I should've given him my light," I said, shaking my head.

"He'll be fine," said Harry. "He told me he gets around without one all the time. How do you think he gets past all those monsters?"

"Huh. Never really gave it much thought."

I looked over to the right and studied the panel for a moment. I was almost certain B1 would be the only working button, but I mashed the others just to be sure.

"Going down," I said, with a feeling of unease. I smacked the button and huddled down into the corner next to my monster. The floor shook, then began to vibrate as the elevator made its descent. A mechanical hum permeated throughout the cramped quarters.

"What's wrong?" asked James. I looked up and noticed him peering down at me.

"I've had some bad luck with elevators today," I answered quietly.

"So? This one seems okay."

"Yeah, I guess so." I kept my head down and thought about flipping up my hood for once.

"It beats jumping through holes..." said Henry.

"Eh, I wouldn't mind that either," replied James.

The elevator slowed and the floor shook once more as we came to a gentle stop. Once again, the doors parted with a gleeful _ding!_ Like a mockery, really. I was probably well on my way to slipping off into the deep end, and I found the noise_ extremely_ annoying.

_Screw elevators._

I lead the way out into the unknown new area. I kept my flashlight in my hand and pointed it ahead as we stepped out.

It was a new room, and fairly large. Harry moved forward and joined me as we scanned the unfamiliar surroundings. The walls seemed to be made out of dull rusty metal, and the floor was dirty concrete. Our footsteps fell without much of an echo. The ceiling was way up high, and the four fixtures above struggled to give off a pale light. We kept our flashlights on._  
_

Straight ahead was a set of double doors, painted a chipped dark brown. That wasn't so special. More interesting was what lay on either side of it. I wandered over for a better look, breaking away from the group. The Double Head came with me.

There were colored squares set into the wall. Nine at a time in a perfect three by three square pattern, two sets on either side of the set of doors. They were made of semitransparent glass, and each about the size of my hand. Every tile was a different color, and some of them were beautiful. I stopped and my gaze settled on the set just to the left of the double doors. The first tile to grab my attention was a cornflower blue, followed by a teal and then a dark gray. The set above that was a light green, followed by black, then a light honey brown. The bottom row held a light amber tile and next to it was a much darker brown. The bottom right tile was dark red.

They stood out in this place, for sure.

"What's this," murmured Harry. He'd snuck up right behind me.

I shrugged and tucked my flashlight into my pocket.

"It's a puzzle, obviously," said James impatiently.

"I know that," Harry snapped. "I'm trying to figure out what it means."

Henry hung back, resting his chin on the back of his hand.

I reached out and touched one of the tiles, it felt cool against my hand... and then it disappeared into the wall about half an inch.

_Ka-thunk! w_ent the double doors.

I glanced over to the side, then back at the others. "Ummm... oops."

"Dammit, Heather!" growled James, stomping angrily towards me. "Tell me you didn't just lock that thing!"

Harry stepped in between us, and Henry pulled back on the collar of James' jacket.

"Now, hold on," said Harry. "Take a look at this."

He aimed his light at the door handles, and we gathered around for a better look.

The doors looked beat to hell, to put it lightly. Like someone had gone absolutely crazy trying to open them. There were dings and scratches marring the paint, and that was just the beginning. They looked like they had been kicked and smashed and _burnt, _even. The wood around the handles was scorched, like someone had taken a torch and gone to town.

"Jeez..." I muttered.

Harry lowered his flashlight beam to the floor, then back up along the wall. "Yeah... looks like somebody got impatient."

"I didn't mean to mess with it... how would I know you can re-lock a puzzle?"

"I don't think you locked it," he replied, and then he pointed off to the right. "There's another door over there, and I have a feeling..."

I walked over to it and pulled on the doorknob. It twisted just fine, but it was being held firmly closed.

"I knew it," chuckled Harry.

"What's it mean?" asked Henry.

"Vincent made his own way through."

"He can't solve his own puzzles?" I snickered. "Wow, what a loser." Then I almost let out a giggle as I imagined Vincent screaming and kicking the door, and trying to burn it down of all things. I would have paid anything to see it.

James crossed his arms, but he looked much calmer now. "I don't think he made it..."

"But it is for us..." said Henry thoughtfully. "There are four squares..."

The Double Head arfed faintly. I hadn't even noticed it had trotted off somewhere. I started towards the sound, but the monster came bounding back up to us. It dropped something on the ground and panted up at me in a doggy-like way.

"What is it?" I crouched down and picked it up. It was a wadded up sheet of paper, and it was pretty darn wet from being slobbered all over. I tried to unfold it, but it fell apart in my fingers.

It had been torn to shreds.

"That was supposed to be our clue, I think," said Harry.

"Wait a minute," I said, peeling apart the slimy pieces and laying them on the ground. "I think we can still read parts of it." I sat down against the wall and began trying to fit them together.

"What a pain," grumbled James. "I can't believe the Old Gods would pull a stunt like this. Aren't they supposed to be on our side?"

"I'm sure they have their reasons," Harry replied. "We'll just have to see what happens."

James unleashed a long frustrated groan and sank down to the floor. "I'm exhausted. Why don't we ever get to sleep?"

"I sleep all the time," said Henry. "I guess... since I wake up in bed all the time."

I gulped and went back to rearranging the torn pieces of paper. I didn't want to admit I'd zonked out in the motel room at Jacks Inn. The Double Head and I shared a look. "Shh," I whispered. Then I remembered it was incapable of telling anyone much of anything.

Harry took a seat next to me and laid his flashlight down on the ground to help add some light.

"How are you holding up?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Yellow," he replied. "Stable."

I sighed. "I mean how do you_ feel_?"

"Pretty drained, to be honest... and my shoulder's killing me." He rubbed his eyes with one hand and leaned forward to look at the papers. "Let's try and figure this out," he said. Then he put his arm around me.

I froze, but tried to play it down.

"'The first will... ...something, without the second'," I mumbled. "It's ripped too much there."

"Okay."

"'The second will live without the first'."

"'Die'?"

"No, 'live'."

"Sorry, I was still thinking about the first line. 'The first will die without the second'. The word there looks short, and it seems to make sense."

"Oh, okay." I held up the next few pieces. "'The fourth'...something... 'the fate of' ...something... 'third'. Sorry, it's pretty torn up."

He nodded. "Don't worry about it."

"'The third knows nothing of the others'. That's the last line, but it's the easiest to read."

Henry wandered over. He'd had enough of James' moping.

"This is what I've got," I said. "The first will die without the second, the second will live without the first. The fourth ...something... the fate of the...third, probably. And the third knows nothing of the others." I started to huff. "Are they referring to us? Because I happen to know a lot."

"'The fourth 'knows' the fate'? I do know a lot about fates..." He looked grim.

We sat quietly for a few more minutes, and I began piecing together the second half of the page.

Harry spoke up finally. "It's out of order. The first refers to me and the second refers to you."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because you live on without... uh, 'me'... in your game."

My heart sank. Again, I tried not to make a huge deal of it. "So James and Henry are what?"

"Yeah, what am I?" piped up James. He was sprawled out now, and had an arm resting over his eyes.

Henry turned his head back at him. "I'm fourth... I know what happens to you because of your father."

"So it's one, three, two, four," I said. "That's just the first part, though. At least we know who stands where, assuming it's left to right." I glanced up at the wall behind us. "Now we've gotta figure out what these tile things are for."

James rolled over onto his side away from everyone. "Wake me up when you've got it."

Harry shook his head disapprovingly, then looked back down at the leftover scraps. "Is the rest in red?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The order part was typed out. The poem part is in... wow, pretty cliche, but it's in blood or red ink. Makes it easier to tell the halves apart, but now it's gonna be harder to figure out what the hell it says."

The Double Head whined lowly.

"Uh-huh, especially cause you smeared it," I said, giving it a pat on the side. I grabbed both of the flashlights and pointed them as close as my headache would allow.

It got awfully quiet for a good long while, but I didn't really mind.

_The eldest led the f... ... meant nothing, because it ...est_

_One for all, ...ll but one._

_Pools of..._

_...staring righ... fac..._

I read it over once more, then sighed and dropped the last scrap down onto the floor. There were too many words, and even if the message wasn't all smeared to hell, it probably still would've read like stereo instructions.

I looked over at Harry. He still had his arm around my shoulders, but his eyes were closed and he had his head back to the wall. I hated to have to move, because I did find him comforting, but I went ahead and gently pulled away. I got up and turned around to examine the puzzle again.

Henry looked up at me. "Did you get it?" His voice was so soft, he woke no one.

"It's hard to make out," I whispered.

I gingerly touched the red tile.

_Ka-thunk!_

Harry jolted forward. "I was thinking."

"Sure you were," I grinned, but I felt kind of sorry for him. "Who's the 'eldest' in here? I know I'm the uh... kid."

"I don't know how old I am, come to think of it..." said Henry.

"That's kinda strange... do you know how old James is?"

"Nope."

"See? This is why we can't be real people. We don't even have birthdays... though I know today isn't mine."

Harry slowly stood up while rubbing his shoulder. "It wouldn't be far from Cheryl's."

"How come?"

"Because she 'just turned seven last month', not that I know what month it is. It's never specified. Team Silent didn't like to put dates down."

"People try to figure it out anyway," I sighed. "Okay, let's keep it simple. I_ think_ this says eldest to... youngest? So maybe it's when the games came out?"

He stepped over to the first set of tiles. The same color scheme, but mismatched. I watched him touch the bottom left tile. It was teal.

_Ka-thunk!_

James sat up. "Stop 'thunking'."

"Get over here, we need you," called Harry.

He dragged himself up and staggered over to the third set. "What do I do?" he asked crankily.

Henry made his way over to set four.

I flattened out the scraps on the floor once again. "Looks like, eldest to youngest. One for all, all but one. Pools of 'something'. Staring right... face. Sounds like a pretty crappy poem if you ask me."

"Staring you right in the face? This must be Easy Riddle Mode," laughed James.

"Huh?"

"Eyes, duh. I stare at mine all the time..."

"So... we touch our eye colors or something?" I asked.

"That's pretty straight forward." said Harry. "Eldest to youngest, one, two, three, four, I go first, James hits the third set, Heather is the second, and Henry goes last." He reached up and touched the dark brown tile.

_Ka-thunk! _He hit it again.

_Ka-thunk!_

"Hmm... maybe it's not as easy as that."

"But you don't have brown eyes," I chuckled.

"Yes I do."

"They're blue."

"What?"

"If I had a mirror I'd show ya... but I don't. You'll have to take my word for it."

He frowned. "But they're so dark in the game... I can't really tell what color they are."

"They're blue, trust me." I pointed my flashlight right in his face, he squinted and raised his arm against the glare.

James and Henry were nodding in agreement.

"Okay," he relented. "Maybe they are. We'll see."

"James, you're green obviously, and Henry's is the amber-ish."

"And you?" asked Henry. "Yours look 'amber-ish' too..."

"One for all, all but one," I said. "I've seen enough Alessa and Cheryl symbolism to know that means me."

"Cheryl's eyes are dark brown... almost black," said Harry wistfully.

"Mine were... uh..."

"Alessa's are blue."

"They are? But they look so dark I can barely—dammit."

He smiled at me, then turned back to his squares. "Ready?"

"Let's do this."

Harry went first, and must have actually selected the right color, because the door did not _ka-thunk_!

James hit the green tile.

I touched the blue and dark brown simultaneously.

Henry went for the amber.

_Click._


	15. Chapter 15: Frenemy

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 15: Frenemy**

_He's in there somewhere._

I hesitated momentarily. My heart was thumping away so loud I was afraid everyone might hear it. I touched my right hand down over my chest to try to quiet it down, and felt the locket beneath my clothing.

My Double Head pushed a side of its face into my leg and I felt the others gathering behind me. I checked my flashlight and tucked it securely back into my pocket, then I reached for my handgun and made sure it was fully loaded. I bit my lip hard.

"Heather, remember..." warned Harry.

"It's my game, you remember that," I replied. "I have a right to defend myself if he comes after me... or my own."

I heard him breathe a small sigh of relief.

"You two stay out of it." I glanced back over my left shoulder at Henry and James. "And I mean it."

"Yes ma'am," sighed James.

Henry nodded understandably, though he looked tense.

I raised my gun and went for the door handle with my free hand.

There was no loading screen.

I peered inside, and my gaze followed the flashlight's beam. The next area was narrow and very dark. Worn horizontal boards comprised the walls, and the whole place smelled a bit strange. 'Newish' if I had to describe it, which made no sense considering how old it appeared to be. There wasn't much to look at really, but a door was waiting across from us. I took a step in and heard the sound of noisy grates beneath my boots once again. The cautious footsteps of the others soon followed.

The door was unlocked.

I threw it open and pointed my gun with one hand, rather clumsily. The place was_ huge_. I stared straight ahead and squinted. My light's beam only went so far, and beyond that, there was nothing.

Blackness.

"What..." I whispered. I took several steps into the dark.

"Wait!" cried a voice.

I startled, and felt myself begin to slip forward. I let out a small shriek as I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder, but it pulled me back from the edge. I stumbled backwards instead.

"Heather!"

My monster had a mouthful of the back of my vest, and Harry had grabbed me just in time, but he wasn't the one yelling. It took me a few seconds to learn how to breathe again, and I tried to compose myself after such a horrible scare.

I backed away carefully and turned around, still shaking.

It was Vincent.

We'd walked right past him. There he was, sitting off to the side of the door only fifteen feet away. I gawked, simply because I hadn't been expecting to see him sitting there so casually. He had a blueish glow about his face as he sat in the dark, and a white light was reflecting off of his glasses. My flashlight beam landed on him and he turned his head to the side. "You can't go walking wherever the hell you want, give me a chance to install the floor."

"Vincent, ...what?" It was all I could manage to say.

"Get that light out of my face." He was holding up a hand now.

I reached up and switched it off automatically. Anything to make him explain what was going on.

"Thank you," he said. "Here, check this out."

I heard a faint _tap tap tapping_ noise, followed by a_ click. _It came from his direction. The metal beneath us began to vibrate, though it wasn't very dramatic. The floor seemed to come to life with an orange glow, and the grates shot outward. A soft fiery light rose up through the new grated floor, casting shadows on us. Startled, I took a step back, and the Double Head let out a yelp. The others backed away in surprise.

"Don't be afraid. It won't hurt—"

"VINCENT, WHAT IS GOING ON?" I interrupted. My eyes finally adjusted enough to see in the dimness, and that's when I could make him out completely. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding a strange black object on his lap. Like a large book with one side lifted up. It wasn't the _craziest_ thing I'd seen lately, but it _was_ the first of its kind. I started to feel sick again just looking at it.

It was a laptop computer.

"I have sooooo much to tell you," he said, with an unsettling smile. His speech sounded slightly slurred, and that's when I noticed the drink in his left hand.

I myself, was struck speechless.

He waved his other hand in a sweeping gesture. "This may sound out of character, but I feel like I owe you an apology, Heather." he said. "Not just you, either."

I turned my head back. Henry and James looked at me. Harry kept his eyes on Vincent.

I finally found my voice again. "Apology's not gonna cut it... Do you know what you've done?"

"What do you think I've done, exactly?"

"You've been breaking everything! Everything in the game!"

He chortled and took a sip out of his glass. "I haven't broken a thing... I've just been playing around a teeny bit."

"A 'teeny bit'?" I stomped towards him. "You broke Lakeside!"

"Nah, I can change it back if you want."

_What the._

"You... you can change it back?"

"Not that it matters now... but yeah, I can. Why don't you quit yelling for a minute and I'll explain everything." He snapped the lid closed on his computer and tucked it up under his arm before getting to his feet. He walked forward calmly, though his clanking footsteps sounded uneven. Definitely tipsy.

He strolled right past me.

"Harry Mason!" he exclaimed. "Never thought I'd catch you around this part of town, especially since you're supposed to be dead."

He quirked an eyebrow and frowned a bit as he scrutinized Harry's blood-stained clothing.

"You don't look so good."

Harry gave no reply. He was giving Vincent the best poker face I'd ever seen in my life, though his eyes were following his every move.

"And Jaaaaames," Vincent continued, stepping around us for a better look, "How's it going with you? Get any good mail lately? Speaking of which, I was looking _everywhere_ for you earlier."

James looked unnerved, but he stayed quiet.

He stopped in front of Henry next. "She told you all to shut up, didn't she? She can be pretty... bossy."

"Shut up," I said, unthinking.

He snickered as he circled back around in front of me. "I was worried about you, Heather."

"Why?"

"I've been trying to fix your save points. Do you know what happened to them?"

_What..._

"No... I thought you were the one who broke them in the first place."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're a creep."

He lowered his gaze down to the side of me.

"Oh, is that your pet monster there?"

The Double Head had both sets of its lips pulled back, and it was growling, but it was only guarding me.

I smirked. "Yeah, that's my monster."

"You're not even ashamed of yourself, are you?"

"Why should I be?"

He leaned in close to my ear and I could smell the alcohol on his rank breath. "Broken protagonist," he whispered.

"I am not!" I had the gun in my right hand, and I could feel my grip tighten around it.

"Oh yes you are, Heather," he said, pulling away. "I know _everything_ about you."

I could feel my cheeks flushing. He was about to let the cat out of the locker in front of everyone.

"But like I said before, I owe you an apology."

_Thank God._

"I should have never given you that phone. That goes for you too, Henry. I underestimated both of you and I'm sorry... Okay? I'm _sorry_. It was arrogant, and I apologize."

"Just tell me what they do," I said. "Claudia... you messed her up." I shook my head. "She barely even recognized me, Vincent. How could you do that to her? Sure, she's a huge bitch sometimes... but she's still like a sister to me."

The others shifted behind me. I didn't care.

"I'll give you the honest to God truth," he replied. "The phones are _supposed_ to make you more docile and forgetful... but I'm not really sure how they work. They're all part of the Holy Engine, which I'm still getting a feel for."

"What the hell is that?" I demanded. "It sounds really dumb."

"Hey, I didn't name it. It was given to me."

"By who?"

He knocked back the last of his drink, then tossed the glass back over his shoulder. It shattered into pieces against the grates.

"Heather—don't you see? Are you really _that_ blind? I know you're designed to be naive, but you're not _completely_ stupid."

The Double Head gave a low growl, and I felt it tensing up against the side of my leg. Again, my hand clenched around the grip of my gun, but I managed to restrain myself.

Finally, Harry said something. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Vincent seemed pleased to be getting the extra attention. "Look at us! Well, don't look _too_ close. We all look like hell right now." He ran a hand through his hair, and I noticed it did look kind of greasy. "We're almost there."

"Where?" I asked.

"I wish I had more time to stall you, but I got so excited," he said. "I've been so busy getting everything ready for it, I haven't even slept."

Harry crossed his arms. "Reality."

"Bingo."

_No freaking way._

"I'm not the bad guy you all think I am," Vincent said with a shrug.

"Yes you are!" I half-yelled. "A bad guy is exactly what you are! You're a greedy backstabber."

"I prefer 'enterprising' thanks," he said, fiddling with something in his pockets. "I'm seeing an opportunity here, unlike you blockheads."

"How, by turning Lakeside into a stupid casino? I bet that paid off, considering no one would ever go there."

"Don't you worry about that," he replied. "It'll be gone soon enough. And yes, it was bad... I'll admit it. I was only practicing."

"And your Sewer Fairies?"

He adjusted his glasses, then narrowed his eyes at me angrily. "They're already gone. Took care of them."

I might have had my reservations at first, but that actually did make me feel sad. "You're not God, Vincent. You can't keep doing things like this."

"What would _you_ know about God?" He was sneering again, and I started to feel panicked.

_Shoot him._

I went to raise my arm, but it fell limply back to my side. I felt eyes on the back of my head, and knew Harry was watching.

"I'm giving you all a gift," Vincent proclaimed. "Just like Paradise!"

"You can't." I rolled my eyes. "It's not in the game anywhere."

"Heather, I can do what I want. _Anything_ I want."

"Paradise isn't a pile of clothes and a bunch of stupid electronics."

"It can be anything you like," he replied. "You see, I'm way ahead of you all. You've been so busy playing through the game like a bunch of mindless sheep. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one with a brain around here."

"What's your plan?" asked Harry. The tone of his voice remained astonishingly even.

"Glad you asked," grinned Vincent. "I'll start from the beginning, as much as I can remember."

"Fine..." I grumbled.

He wandered up ahead of us, and his uneven footsteps clanked against the grates as he talked. "You know how it is. I always 'wake up' in that clinic in the Hilltop Center... because that's where I'm supposed to meet you."

"Uh-huh."

"But... but this time it was different." He had his arms pressed to his sides as he gazed out into the darkness. "I woke up first, before anyone else. And I was outside... I was just outside of the Mall... and I heard a voice calling out to me from somewhere... but it was like I heard it in my head."

"You're not supposed to mix drugs and alcohol, ya know."

I heard one of the guys stifle a laugh behind me, and I struggled to keep a straight face.

"_Shut the fuck up,_" Vincent snarled.

"Language!" I exclaimed, and felt the others stirring uncomfortably. "This isn't Homecoming for God's sake."

"I heard a voice, goddammit. It spoke to me, and it warned me."

I rested a hand on my hip. "Oh yeah? What makes_ you_ so special? Why didn't it say anything to me?"

"Oh... I dunno, maybe because you're broken," he retorted. "Anyway... it warned me of the upcoming shift into the Real World... and I was given something to help us. The town is going to disappear for good, but we'll be safe inside of the level I've built. It's going to come with us."

"We're not real people, Vincent. And you're probably lying. I don't care about any of this." Truthfully, I did feel afraid, and the headache was starting to pound relentlessly inside of my skull again. I touched my forehead and tried not to squint too hard.

"Not yet... but we're so close I can taste it. Any minute now, those weapons are going to rip right through your pockets. I'd take them out of my inventory if I were you... besides, it's not like you've given them any use lately."

"Shut up."

"None at all, come to think of it," he mocked.

The Double Head growled and barked once angrily. I placed my hand on the back of its neck to reassure it, but my head was aching even worse.

"Not a single monster."

I felt someone touching my shoulder.

Vincent noticed. "What's it like having a broken daughter, Harry?" he jeered. "I ran across that Nurse you handled in Brookhaven. I _know_ Heather doesn't have a hunting rifle. So you've been killing her monsters for her now?"

Harry kept his cool, but my cheeks were flaming hot.

"Don't piss her off," he said. "It won't be good for any of us."

Vincent broke out into an unusual laugh, and it wasn't a quiet one. "I'm not worried one bit... God is losing Her power in this game. There will _never_ be an Awakening... and it's all Heather's fault."

I clamped a hand over my eyes and felt myself starting to sink down to the floor. It was a full on migraine now.

"So that's that then," he continued. "And now I've got you all tra—gathered here. I've rescued you, really. When the time comes for the shift, we'll have a place to stay where we won't have to be afraid."

James finally cracked. "You can't stick us in a bunch of tiny rooms and expect it all to work out 'somehow'."

"You won't be stuck anywhere!" he said, gesturing widely and practically spitting. "It's just a place to live! I've given this some thought, you know... I've created a perfect room for each and every one of you. And I built it all with _my_ power. The power of technology that you view with such scorn!"

Henry quietly interjected. "But we can't live outside of our games... I don't even have a job..."

"I know you think that, but I've got it all planned out. It's going to be fine. What do you think I've been so busy with all this time?"

Harry reached down and pulled me back up to a stand. "What?" he asked.

"Remakes."

"No!" I yelled. "Stop it right there. You can't do that! This isn't what Team Silent wanted."

"We're gonna need money to get by, Heather. Why not make a ton of it while we can? Before we get too old."

"Konami owns the rights," said Harry. "Your plan won't work."

"Listen to yourself, Harry," Vincent snickered. "No really, listen! Or should I say 'Michael G.' You know, sometimes I think they killed you off just because they couldn't find your voice actor. Do you know how much you would be worth to them?"

"You're not going to make any money off of us."

James sighed. "This is stupid. Konami can't even ship out a half-way decent HD Collection. Besides, can you imagine if a bunch of video game characters approached them? Ridiculous... We'd probably be dragged off for scientific research or something."

"It'll be easier than you think," said Vincent. "Think about it. We change our names, disguise ourselves, then we open our own game studio right here, underground. We'll do motion captures and recordings for a demo, CGI in some monsters... Konami won't be able to say no. You think _I'm_ the greedy one? And that's just the beginning! I'm talking about a movie, James. A Silent Hill 2 movie with an actor that looks and sounds just like he should. The fans will go _crazy_."

James grimaced.

"Konami will love us! We'll remake all of our games. Even 4! Then we'll put out sequels... And we can bootleg our own merch right under their noses. We'll make a killing."

He took a few steps towards me.

"Come on, Heather... I know you love clothes. Look at all your costumes... you like jewelry, don't you? And music and the internet too. I _know_ you're aware of the Real World, you don't even try to hide it very well."

"Don't patronize me," I muttered.

"Harry will warm up to the idea eventually... like he really has a choice. Maybe he'll take you driving in that new car you're going to get."

"No."

"Aww... what's wrong?" he taunted. "Don't like your dad's 80's style? I'm sure he'll let you help him pick out a new outfit if _that's_ what's bothering you."

"Harry's too young to be my father..." I sighed, and my voice began to waver. "My father is dead."

"Oh boy," he replied, with a shake of his head. "So now you've got daddy issues too? I should've known running around with ol' stiff-necked Harry Mason would mess with your head."

"I want my game back to normal."

"That's not gonna happen," he said. "Maybe your saves are all gone, but I've made sure to protect you as best I can. I don't want all of my hard work erased. That's the only thing, really... I can't let you die or it's over."

"What do you mean you've protected me?"

"I command nuked all of the monsters to death." He laughed once, then his tone went serious again.

"Every. Last. One."

_No._

"Well, not Valtiel... but he's one of Her harmless ones. Everything else is dead..."

"You_ son of a bitch_!"

"...except for that little dog of yours. Did you give it a name?"

_"None of your goddamned business!"_

"That's an odd name, isn't it."

He reached down and I stared in horror as he pulled out a flamethrower.

_My_ flamethrower.

The Double Head let loose a fierce howl as it lunged forward at full speed.

"NO!" I bolted straight after it.

Vincent was laughing madly as he stepped backwards, unleashing a spray of fuel and hellfire. The Double Head went for his throat anyway, but the sheer force of the weapon threw it to the ground. The flames engulfed the monster as it yelped in pain, over and over again.

It fell and landed on its side with an audible groan, then it lay still.

I cried out as I fell down next to it. My gun slipped from my fingers and clattered to the floor.

"Vincent! What in the hell have you done!" cried Harry.

"I barbecued that old dog, since she's gone too soft to do it herself," he replied gleefully.

I touched the burnt bandages and felt the smoldering fur burning the tips of my fingers.

_Please no. _

_Please God no._

My heart _ached_, far worse than my head ever had. My breaths became ragged and my eyes burned as hot tears began spilling over onto my cheeks.

I heard voices behind me, but they all sounded far away, and time itself seemed to slow to a crawl. There was only blurred fiery light and my monster. Dead and gone from my side.

The headache was loosening its vice-like grip, and the awful throbbing in the back of my eyes grew faint. Soon, I found myself easing back up to a stand.

_"Heather, USE IT!"_

I stared straight ahead, but I saw nothing.

It all felt so good. _Everything_ felt wonderful. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

All of the pain had disappeared.

My vision finally began to refocus itself. I slowly turned and smiled up at Vincent.

He was frozen there. His mouth hanging partly open, his face twisted into a mask of shock and confusion.

The light began to fade around us.

It was glorious.


	16. Chapter 16: Amends

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 16: Amends**

The floor was quaking beneath us.

"Get back!" I yelled. "_Now!_"

"Harry!" called James.

_"_I said get back!"

Christ, they were too panicked to move. I reached out into the darkness and grabbed hold of both of them, jerking them in the direction of the door.

I was too late.

A brilliant flash of light blinded all three of us, and I felt my feet being held fast to the floor. I covered my eyes and tried to back away, but my legs stubbornly refused the request.

The shaking was gone now, and there was nothing. I heard only my own heart beating and a faint ringing in my ears. I lowered my hands from my eyes fearfully and with great caution. A gentle white glow warmed the center of the room. It didn't take long to adjust to the dismal surroundings, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was_ Her._

The _Mother of God._

She was standing calmly there. Her body was surrounded by an orb of soft luminescence, and She was _glowing _within it. Her long dark hair was thrown back over Her shoulders, and She was clad in Her flowing white robes. Her arms were outstretched to Vincent, who stood before Her, unmoving.

We were only helpless bystanders now.

Vincent's eyes were wide. "Mother of God!" he cried, as he reached his hand out towards Her, taking a few uneasy steps forward.

_Vincent! _I found that my voice had quite simply ceased to function. I could say nothing.

But She could _walk._

I stared as She strode gracefully forward, holding out Her arms to him. She glided along, not touching the ground completely, and Her robes trailed behind Her. There came no attack—no lightning burst forth from Her fingertips, but the _power _She emitted made my stomach turn in knots. I flinched and grit my teeth as sharp pain tore through my wounds. In my struggle to move, I had overexerted myself and ripped everything open again. James and Henry continued to strain themselves at either side of me.

There was nothing we could do.

Vincent was holding his arms out to Her.

They embraced, and then She leaned in to whisper something to him. He gasped audibly, then he dropped to the ground on his knees. Blood began to pour from his lips and down his chin in rivulets. He coughed weakly, and his head fell back as he clutched his shaking hands over the front of his chest. He fell forward and collapsed.

He would never move again.

She was peering down at him, then She lifted Her head.

She turned to face us now.

_We're done for._

Her frigid stare turned my heart into a block of ice, but I couldn't look away. Her eyes then fixed on James, and finally Henry—as if deciding who to take care of first. Not one of us could budge an inch to defend ourselves.

It was_ maddening._

The Judgement was made. Her cold gaze settled on James, and he cowered helplessly. She glided forth without a sound, stretching Her arms out once again.

She embraced him, and I watched as Her lips brushed against his left ear, though I heard nothing. His eyes shifted over to mine... then they rolled back into his head.

He fell.

_No!_

His limp body crashed down to the metallic floor with a _clang._ I looked away briefly, and when I dared to look again, his clothing and hair had changed.

My clothes.

It was like watching my own death.

She was looking at me now.

One last time, I strained to rip away from the grated floor. My wrists felt like they had been tied to one thousand pound weights. My arms hung down at my sides. Immobilized.

My God, She was _smiling._

She stood before me, radiating Her powerful glow. Her white hand reached out to settle onto my left shoulder. I clenched my eyes tightly shut and waited to die.

But I didn't.

I gasped as the burning pain in my chest and shoulder began to weaken. Then the long-settled aches numbed and left my body as well. I opened my eyes again and stared down, shuddering still. I could breathe more easily now, but I was still terribly frightened. She turned from me and took Her hand away.

Henry was trembling and looking downward.

She reached out to him, then delicately lifted his chin as She leaned forward. Again came a soundless whisper, then She took his hands into Her own. A pair of objects had been placed into his palms. She pushed his hands down into his pockets before I had taken a good look, but they appeared to be two differently labeled bottles.

She let him go and turned back to the center, gliding forward with Her silent footsteps.

My hands were moving on their own.

_What?_

I had my rifle out now, and I soon found that I could move myself again.

She was smiling at me. _"Do it." _Her lips hadn't moved, but an ethereal voice seemed to come from all around us. Had She really spoken?

I sputtered, "What? No!" My own voice was back.

She nodded Her head once.

I shook mine "No."

My hands lifted the rifle on their own.

_"If I attack you, you will die."_

"No...!"

God, I hated myself, but I did aim for Her.

I fired once, and the shot went wide. My entire body was quivering.

She lifted Her hand and the end of the barrel seemed to stabilize itself.

"Please don't," I begged.

_"Do it."_

I took aim and my finger wrapped itself around the trigger. I squeezed my eyes shut and fired again.

And again.

And a third time.

It was enough.

I threw the gun down to the floor with a scream and fell to my knees. Henry ran forward and grabbed hold of me, pulling me back up. The flash blinded us again, and we shielded our eyes. I tore away from him, sprinting forward to where She had fallen.

Heather.

She was horrifyingly still. My legs collapsed beneath me again just as I reached her. Her head was tilted away to the side, and her eyes were half open in a vacant stare. Her vest and orange shirt were spattered and stained with dark red.

_Please God. _I was praying to anyone or anything now.

I touched her face gently. I meant to call her name, but another came out instead.

_"Cheryl!"_

By some miracle, she stirred and took a breath. Her eyes closed, then opened again to look up at me. I reached for both of her hands as my own eyes blurred over with tears. Henry paced nearby, and I thought I heard him sobbing quietly.

A corner of her mouth turned up into a smile. "Thanks," she whispered. "I always wished... you would call me that."

I found no words, but I squeezed her fingers.

"You need to go..." she said wearily. "It's my ending. I saved... ...everyone." She was starting to look past me, and she seemed to be struggling to stay awake.

My eyes and nose were running now. "I can't."

"Yes you can," she said, and her eyes fluttered before they closed.

"I love you," I choked.

"I love you too, Dad."

My strength had left me. I slumped down and held onto her just as it started to rain down around us.

_"Harry!"_

Someone was shouting.

_"Henry!"_

It wasn't rain. It was _fire_. The ground had started to rumble again, then began to quake violently. There were thunderous eruptions far below, and the earth itself shuddered beneath the shaking grates.

I felt a rough hand grab onto the back of my jacket.

Douglas.

I tried to pull free. "No! I'm not leaving her!"

"We have to go, it's now or never!" he yelled. "Everybody's leaving!"

Henry latched onto my arm, and Douglas held firm.

I was being dragged away.

_"No!"_


	17. Chapter 17: The Real

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 17: The Real**

I sat up groggily from the couch and heard my phone clatter to the floor.

"What a crazy dream."

I rubbed my eyes and squinted over at the TV. I'd left my game muted and the intro had been running continuously for most of the night. Then I remembered why. I'd restarted after leaving the thing unpaused for so long. My ranking would've been complete crap.

_No more drunken Silent Hill nights for me._

My head was killing me and I really had to pee.

"You up, babe?" my boyfriend called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, just a sec."

I got up to do my business, then returned to the living room with a bottle of Advil and a tall glass of ice water. Food didn't look too appetizing just yet. I unmuted the TV and highlighted Extra New Game, then put in the Douglas undies code for a laugh.

One more play through wouldn't hurt anything, and I still needed to unlock that sub-machine gun.

* * *

_..._

_"In here is a tragedy-_  
_art thou player or audience?_  
_Be as it may, the end doth remain:_  
_all go on only toward death._

_The first words at thy left hand:_  
_a false lunacy, a madly dancing man._  
_Hearing unhearable words, drawn_  
_to a beloved's grave-and there,_  
_mayhap, true madness at last._

_As did this one, playing at death,_  
_find true death at the last._  
_Killing a nameless lover, she_  
_pierced a heart rent by sorrow._

_Doth lie invite truth? _  
_Doth verity but wear the_  
_mask of falsehood? _  
_Ah, thou pitiful, thou_  
_miserable ones!_

_Still amidst lies, though the end cometh not, _  
_wherefore yearn for death?_  
_Wilt thou attend to thy beloved?_  
_Truth and lies, life and death:_  
_a game of turning white to black_  
_and black to white._

_Is not a silence brimming with_  
_love more precious than flattery?_  
_A peaceful slumber preferred to_  
_a throne besmirched with blood?_  
_One vengeful man_  
_spilled blood for two;_  
_Two youths shed tears for three;_  
_Three witches disappeared thusly;_  
_And only the four keys remain._

_Ah, but verily..._  
_In here is a tragedy-_  
_art thou player or audience?_  
_There is nothing which cannot_  
_become a puppet of fate or an_  
_onlooker, peering into the cage."_

_..._

**RESULTS**

**Ending type - Holy Mother / Bad+**

**Action level - Normal**

**Riddle level - Easy**

**Clear time - 19h 06m 59s**

**Split worm kill time - 0m 00s**

**Missionary kill time - 0m 00s**

**Leonard kill time - 0m 00s**

**Memory of Alessa ****kill time - 0m 00s**

** The god kill time - 3m 14s**

**Clear number - 1**

**Save & continues - 0**

**Item number - 6**

**Defeated enemy by shooting - 2**

**Defeated enemy by fighting - 7**

**Total damage - 4231**

**RANK ***

**Holy Mother bonus ***********

_"She will usher in an eternal Paradise. _

_A place with no pain. No hunger, no sickness, no old age."_

_~Fin~_

_Dedicated to Heather Mason_

_The BADDEST MOTHER**** to ever grace the streets of Silent Hill._

_And to Team Silent_

_You are missed._


End file.
